NBC News reported on non-lobbying lobbying around Silicon Valley Bank's implosion:
Ron Conway, a prominent San Francisco venture capitalist, said in an email that his investment firm “was able to deploy its business and policy/government relationship network to pursue a positive outcome to help thousands of small business clients of SVB resume business with normalcy.”
At a dinner Friday in San Francisco, he had pressed his case to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former President Barack Obama, according to the news website Puck, which labeled the rescue “The Ron Conway Bailout.”
Conway's SV Angel funds had $200 million in SVB.
Obama let widespread financial fraud go unprosecuted after the 2008 financial crisis. It's hardly a surprise billionaire insiders sought him out for help saving SVB uninsured deposits.
Tech firms worried about a blow to their Hollywood villain image.
A general partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, said on Twitter that he had realized in the past few days that people didn’t appreciate the tech industry’s value. “We need to do a better job of telling our story or our enemies will do it for us."
For decades private equity underwriters (PEU) have lamented the public's inability to appreciate all the good they do. That's likely because most Americans have worked for a PEU affiliate at some point in their career and seen the damage done.
Are disruptors misunderstood or does the public actually get it? Here's a clue: Libertarian greed kings needed government rescue for disrupting their bank holdings.
Underwater assets (worth less today than when purchased) exist well beyond Silicon Valley Bank. How far are the Reds and Blues willing to do to backstop the policy making billionaire class?
