Financial TimesFinancial Times

Recriminations fly as venture capitalists contemplate Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse

By Tim Bradshaw, Antoine Gara and George Hammond

13 Mar 2023 · 4 min read

Editor's Note

Was SVB’s collapse due to "venture capitalists freaking out?” As the bank's problems came to light, it was the response of venture capital firms that created a "fatal stampede," reports the FT.

As Silicon Valley Bank was gripped in a crisis last Thursday, General Catalyst boss Hemant Taneja gathered a group of fellow venture capitalists in a last-ditch attempt to avert disaster. 

Over the previous few days, some VC funds had leaned on portfolio companies to retreat from the tech scene’s favourite bank, with Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund the most significant to do so, according to people with knowledge of the situation. Founders Fund declined to comment.

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