01-06-2026, 01:59 PM
Two random thoughts several years later.
I'm still working in the start-up eco-system despite being north of 60 years old. I'm the oldest guy at my company and have been for several years. Still love it and moved back to start-ups in my late 50s after tiring of Ops roles within the FAANG treadmill.
I confirm the pre-collapse Peter Thiel phone calls from personal discussions with small start-up CEOs/CFOs. Those I spoke to were extremely thankful for the heads-up given the mess several days later. There's no doubt that this precipitated the collapse as rumors and panic flew widely both inside and outside Thiel's network. So widely that I know of one CFO who was almost fired when his CEO questioned why HE wasn't given any advance notice (from the CFO).
Also, SVB is missed as many start-ups that left are chafing against the backwards practices (fax?, long leadtimes, maintaining actual paper trails, in person signatures, etc) at their "new" banks. The modern infrastucture built at SVB had many advantages. A number of companies I know found their way back to SVB in it's new form. It was a good pick-up by First Citizens for several reasons.
Is that what you guys are seeing several years out?
I'm still working in the start-up eco-system despite being north of 60 years old. I'm the oldest guy at my company and have been for several years. Still love it and moved back to start-ups in my late 50s after tiring of Ops roles within the FAANG treadmill.
I confirm the pre-collapse Peter Thiel phone calls from personal discussions with small start-up CEOs/CFOs. Those I spoke to were extremely thankful for the heads-up given the mess several days later. There's no doubt that this precipitated the collapse as rumors and panic flew widely both inside and outside Thiel's network. So widely that I know of one CFO who was almost fired when his CEO questioned why HE wasn't given any advance notice (from the CFO).
Also, SVB is missed as many start-ups that left are chafing against the backwards practices (fax?, long leadtimes, maintaining actual paper trails, in person signatures, etc) at their "new" banks. The modern infrastucture built at SVB had many advantages. A number of companies I know found their way back to SVB in it's new form. It was a good pick-up by First Citizens for several reasons.
Is that what you guys are seeing several years out?
In 1938 Neville Chamberlain declared "Peace in our time", Superman first appeared in Action Comics, Seabiscuit beat War Admiral ....... and C.a.l last won the Rose Bowl.