During this episode, we go directly into the belly of the beast to hear from a tech company that survived the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. Brian Schmidt, co-founder of Hoop, joins us to share his story. Tune in to hear a candid account of how one start-up successfully navigated the high-risk experience of transferring its assets out of SVB during the weekend of its collapse. Hear what considerations led to the final decision, and what the experience was like on the ground. Brian shares anecdotes from how he engaged with the media and his co-founders, and what he would have done differently in hindsight. Hear how Twitter helped to speed up the collapse, why our energy is best used focusing on the elements that fall within our control, and much more today. Thanks for listening!
Key Points From This Episode:
•An introduction to today’s guest, Brian Schmidt.
•Background on Hoop, the technology startup Brian co-founded.
•Brian’s experience with SVB leading up to March 9.
•Bank failings following SVB.
•The blog post written by Hoop co-founder Stella Garber.
•When Brian started to get wind of the SVB collapse.
•The spread of information and conversation around the collapse.
•What motivated Brian to publicize a new Slack network for business leaders to share information.
•The decision-making process in response to moving the money.
•Failure of the text message authentication system during the transfer process.
•The importance of delineation of roles during decision-making.
•Potential scenarios Brian considered leading up to the result.
•Twitter’s Clubhouse-style conference calls.
•Legal considerations leading up to the verdict.
•How Brian’s family responded to the crisis.
•The moment of confirmation that everything was going to be okay.
•What inspired Hoop to create a blog post about the weekend.
•Considerations going forwards.
•Brian’s belief that there is merit to every viewpoint, including bailouts.
•How social media exacerbated the risks of SVB’s collapse.
•Why the government ultimately had to take action.
•Focusing on what’s inside of your control.
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
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