Snippet: A Tough Weekend ☇

Om Malik on the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank:

Waiting for the next shoe to drop, I can talk about the role of SVB in the history of Silicon Valley. I got to know folks from SVB in 1992 when they were a tiny bank caught in a real estate shitstorm. They were starting to diversify aggressively into the ecosystem. Over the decades, they created programs to support startups, founders, and their employees. They knew the startup ecosystem intimately and understood the needs of “tech” long before it became an asset class.

SVB was willing to put people ahead of everything. I know this first-hand when my own company was going through a tough time. They were the only lender who cared enough to step up — not the others. They didn’t abandon a lot of people after the dot-com bust. The relationships they built are why they became what they did. The 16th largest bank in the country. Now gone — poof!