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Comment by phendrenad2 | Hacker News Reader

> They banked with SVB because it's one of only a handful of banks that was willing to align its financial products with the holistic levels of risk that are required to work in startups.

I don't really understand what this means. What specifically did SVB offer that, say, Chase or BoA didn't?

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A few years ago, I evaluated launching my startup in the US through Stripe-Atlas. SVB was the banking partner at that time. I did not go through with it. If I recall correctly Stripe-Atlas launched around 2017 or so. So, in the last 5 years, many startups that did not already have a banking relationship with another bank and had chosen Stripe-Atlas for launching would have likely lined up with SVB.

So, ease of banking access, for one thing, led to the unique mix of SVB clientele.

Edit: Currently, after SVB's demise there is Mercury and Novo, I believe, that are banking partners of Stripe-Atlas.

> My only other option, I learned, was to work with an employee equity "fund" – essentially, loan sharks – that lend money to startup employees if they don't have the cash to buy their options. In exchange, they would take more than 50% of my payout, if it ever came to pass. After weighing these options, I decided to choke down my fears, cash out my savings and buy myself one big chip, which I placed in front of the roulette wheel and held my breath as it spun.

> When a founder goes to the bank to get a mortgage, it's difficult to explain to someone at, say, Bank of America that yes, their savings and income don't look very impressive, but they do have a lot of equity in a promising company – which, by the way, isn't yet profitable, but it will be! (Maybe.) A Big Banker doesn't look at that story and see a potential high earner. They just see someone who is incredibly cash poor and risky.

> "Boo hoo," you might think. "Pity the poor venture capitalist who can't afford to buy into their fund." But this person did not come from a wealthy or privileged background. They were relatively young. They didn't have family who could advance them the cash.

They offer loans and financial products to employees, founders, and VCs (new to me), that are cash poor but have equity in presumably valuable companies. A relationship that is supposedly hard to forge with other banks.

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