Roger Smith was/is one of the good guys. I had the opportunity to serve on a Stanford board with him some years ago - a class act and great Stanford fan. Like you LeftCoast, I watched them start to slip/get greedy and I too returned to the start-up world as the "gray matter" amongst the fresh faces - it keeps me agile and engaged (hopefully). As SVB started to tumble we to got the calls from Thiel and co. Ironically, it happened during my first board meeting and the Thiel guys and the rest of the board angrily clashed over what to do. Our CFO was caught in the cross fire, but thankfully we took a compromise path that worked out just fine.
Will this happen again....absolutely. I like the tide/swimming naked analogy as it's spot on. I'm now trying to figure out the next opportunity and there are so many options that won't be around in a year or two. May we live in interesting times.
Will this happen again....absolutely. I like the tide/swimming naked analogy as it's spot on. I'm now trying to figure out the next opportunity and there are so many options that won't be around in a year or two. May we live in interesting times.