In March 2023, the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank pushed the startup world into a crisis. Running a business is always fraught with uncertainty, but that event was even more terrifying than business as usual. Many founders didn’t know if they would have the funds needed for payroll the following week.
Fortunately, like many things in life that look bad, the funding situation was resolved in just a few days. The government intervened and ensured that most startups would have access to their cash.
While it may be tempting to dismiss the SVB collapse as an extreme event, the truth is, running a business is always fraught with uncertainty. You have to expect that extreme events are going to happen, even when you least expect them.