When Silicon Valley Bank collapsed before our eyes on Thursday, its founders told me the world felt like when COVID-19 first bared its teeth. He scoffed at his metaphor: Are we really using the ongoing devastating pandemic to explain the bankruptcy of a prominent bank? I realized that I was witnessing the collapse of something sacred.
Even amidst the collective relief that echoed across Silicon Valley when regulators said they would have full access to depositors’ funds starting Monday, those dire COVID days and the surreal reality of last weekend A similarity can be seen between These four days, wWe’ve reported on the Twitter-triggered bank run, the regulator’s takeover of SVB, the scramble for venture capital to back startups, and the scramble for entrepreneurial survival. forever tech twitterFrom panic to anger to fear to relief, all fear weighed heavily on my shoulders.
While some investors have spoken out, others have pointed out, and Twitter has been filled with hot takes and ill-timed jokes, my DM is telling those at the forefront of innovation how SVB’s demise is. Now my DMS is celebrating and pouring out a moment of sheer relief that felt like the end of lockdown. , full of grateful people.
But while it might feel like a hilarious ending to a nightmare, the irreversible change is here. People have been beaten in the face by the interconnectedness of technology and our over-reliance on particular institutions and voices. . And a failure of this magnitude will affect whatever your definition of Silicon Valley is, well beyond the “tech elite.” And, let me add, I hope there was a realization that we should all stop trying to be bankers (and stop trying to be epidemiologists). likewise).
After being told, seen, and shoved out loud over the past few weeks, I can’t believe technology works the same way. Founders are more aware than ever about which investors can really add value. VCs chose teams that were often publicly honest, set themselves apart, and believed they would work together in the future. And ordinary people have just opened their eyes to how the often closed world of ventures and startups works (it’s messy, really).
Silicon Valley gasped in unison at the news that depositors would be covered by regulators. There are still issues to be resolved before the rebuild begins. But the big story ahead is still being written in better understanding what’s broken and what’s broken in Silicon Valley’s wider tank.
