On the Governance of Silicon Valley Bank, and What Next?

A short note on Silicon Valley's Crisis.

For anyone living and working in Silicon Valley, particularly in the startup, VC, finance and tech ecosystem, it’s been a crazy intense week. Tomorrow will be a critical day, as we will know what government action will be taken to shield the banking system from wider fallout.

“We want to make sure that the troubles that exist at one bank don’t create contagion to others that are sound,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in an interview on Face the Nation on CBS Sunday. “We are concerned about depositors and are focused on trying to meet their needs.”

SVB, one of Silicon Valley’s most iconic banks has fallen, and its collapse was swift, just 48 hours. Bank runs are brutal.

SVB was founded in 1983 and was headquartered in the heart of Silicon Valley in Santa Clara, CA. It served not only the US startup ecosystem (it provided financing for almost half of US venture-backed technology and health care companies), but also the global startup ecosystem, including in countries as diverse as …