If your startup doesn't survive having only 50% in the bank account for one week and then 80-90% in the following weeks (appears to be the most likely outcome without any government money) it likely isn't viable to begin with (in a normal, non-zero interest environment). I think the believe that startups have to always be on the brink of bankruptcy is misleading because it worked in the last decade of endless money and in winner-take all industries. At this point I believe that "Blitzscaling" is a zero-sum game and that most value is created by non winner-takes all companies that grow steadily. It seems analogous to aerodynamic friction, the faster you try to go the less far you will be able to go with a certain amount of energy/money
This is a strange strawman argument. The GP and parent comment you responded to are specifically referring to this sentiment:
> “Depositors shouldn’t get anything beyond the insured $250,000”.
What startup normally only has $500,000 in the bank?
Anyway, cashflow can matter a lot. For instance, people that sell stuff on etsy might not be paid on time because of this. That creates a lot of customer uncertainty.
Also, I can imagine a lot of B2B startup customers are looking for second sources all of a sudden.
The person you’re replying to is referring to a well-founded rumor that depositors will receive 50% of the uninsured deposits beyond the 250k minimum this coming week and that SVB has assets worth at least 80% of all deposits, which will be recovered in time.
