🧠 Weekly Reflections #5: Breaking down the SVB debacle.

Hey Everyone –

Welcome to the fifth edition of the weekly reflections newsletter!

In this edition, we'll dive into the whole Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) debacle, and I'll summarize it in ~ 5 bullet points. As usual, reflections are included.

I'd also love to hear from y'all and know your thoughts on this event. Feel free to reply to this email or comment on the post, and I'll get back to you as soon as possible!

P.S. - For all of my AU people out there: I hope you guys are having a restful, rejuvenating, and relaxing spring break so far ❤️!

Let's get into it 🫡

💎 Reflections from the Journal: SVB Edition

• BLOT:

↳ Locking in: As Graham Stephen puts it - SVB severely misjudged the size and pace of the Fed's rate hikes while assuming that the Venture Capital market would continue to stay strong.

↳ With too much of their $$$ locked away in one specific asset, that yielded too low of a return as their customers began withdrawing more $$$ than anticipated.

↳ People will get hurt by this: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (aka the FDIC: The gov agency that protects banks to keep your money safe) can't cover 97.3% of the funds in SVB because they are more than 250k, which is beyond the threshold they cover. More on this from the Financial Times:

↳ Final reflections: It’s scary to think that overnight there will be companies unable to support the livelihood of their employees and operations because years-worth of liquidity (cash) is suddenly poofed from this bank failure.

↳ Some companies can thankfully rely on VCs they work w/ but not all companies have that luxury. If you want to know more about how this debacle unfolds from a silicon valley company's perspective, consider checking out this WSJ article.

↳ In the Graham Stephen video I shared above, he also shares a great idea for the FDIC to seriously consider: Instead of covering a fixed value of $250k, consider protecting a % of what a person deposits instead to create a more accurate, widespread safety net.

💭 More from the journal

• On another note, I also did my first solo pitch in the investment fund I'm a part of. Biggest takeaway? As you start your communication journey, get ready to suck - A LOT.

↳ Don't get me wrong, though. This part of the journey is probably the most important. You learn the most and are also in an amazing position to receive the most feedback. Both of which are crucial to making you into the communicator you're called to be.

↳ I’m also aware that the environment of an investment fund is probably one of the most unique environments to grow as a communicator. There are skills you learn in there that I know I won't be able to find anywhere else.

↳ Yet, I feel like everyone is in their own unique space to grow as communicators, but it takes intentionality to make the most of it.

❤️ Quotes of the week:

• “You need to learn to turn your Ls into Lessons." - Young Min
• "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." - Leonardo Da Vinci

That's all I got for today. Love you guys, and see you next week!

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