At SXSW, Tech Employees React to Silicon Valley Bank’s Failure

• Silicon Valley Bank went bankrupt at the South by Southwest tech conference in Austin on Friday.
• The annual festival is known for attracting hundreds of startup founders and technology investors.
• Startupland attendees secretly struggle to make sense of the news.

Many attendees were personally panicking as South By Southwest kicked off in earnest on Friday.

The annual festival, which welcomes thousands of attendees from the worlds of entertainment, politics, business and technology, draws thousands of customers after the news that Silicon Valley Bank has been placed under FDIC control. I started my first day. give money

Nearly half of US venture-backed startups use the bank’s services, According to its websiteand during that implosion, many of them were scrambled to secure funding for their companies.

The festival is known for attracting startup founders, employees, and investors, with many panels and networking events during the first half of the 10-day conference. Also, many attendees with orange “interactive” badges were glued to their phones and computers inside the convention center and badge holder lounge.

Jessica Lessin, Founder and CEO of The Information, murmured On Friday, the SVB news was described as “the most insane experience ever” of her career. I shared your post.

“The reality of this moment is that we’re really waiting to see how things take a turn for the worse or stabilize,” Lessin told an insider. Rather, it was described as a “distraction.”

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, a speaker at this year’s SXSW, said: Possible Ripple Effect The collapse of the SVB and imminent action by the US government come to mind.

“If the government does not intervene to stop the contagion caused by the SVB bank run, more local banks (or large banks) will go bankrupt,” Haugen told an insider. “Big tech worries that even if SVB benefits from excluding the startup community, Biden will feel incapable of acting because of public hostility towards big tech.” “It’s amazing to think that the collateral damage of bad behavior by the government could happen. It would be a financial turmoil that would affect Main Street.”

Conway Anderson, the startup founder who flew to Austin on Saturday, appeared surprisingly empty-handed about the SVB implosion in a public chat, but in a private chat, the founder expressed concern. tweeted that he was sharing

— Conway (@ConwayAnderson) March 11, 2023

“Private and public chats on South By Southwest look very different, and most people at South By probably recognize that. [of Silicon Valley Bank] But everyone wants to make the most of it and not get too hung up on things they can’t control,” Anderson said.

For example, Roku held 26% of its cash in SVB. But at the media company’s interactive event at SXSW, Roku City, things look perfectly fine. Guests experienced his recreation of Roku City pop-up and sipped colorfully themed cocktails at the bar while a DJ played his music to dance.

But while attendees may try to stay positive over the weekend, the tone could change even more dramatically on Monday, when markets reopen and startups and VCs have to refocus their influence. There is a nature.