US Treasury Bonds are one of the safest investment vehicles, IF you match the interest and maturity to your liabilities. You cannot go and buy bonds that will mature and give you 1% per annum in 10 years when you have a debtor awaiting payment in 90 days. That's the huge risk mismanagement SVB did.
Having said that, I don't think startups will suffer big time - but they were the ones also who created the bankrun fueled by VC panic. However mismanaged SVB was, given enough time they had enough resources to turn this around.
This needs to be sticked at top. It’s not that hard to build a Treasury ladder with three month bills. This is not complicated and you don’t need to be Warren Buffett to figure this out.
One thing to remember about your last point is that the startups and VC’s that DIDN’T cause the bank run are the ones that will be hurt by this. So if anyone is in here thinking “they shouldn’t have tried to withdraw their money, thereby creating a bank run, if they didn’t want to lose their money!” You have to realize that there two separate groups of people here: the ones that withdrew their money and caused the bank run, and the other ones that didn’t cause the bank run and lost their money.
That said, I don’t blame anybody for causing the bank run. If I had a reason to believe that my personal bank might not be able to give me my money if I didn’t get it out right now, there is zero chance that I would leave my money there to vanish just to avoid causing a bank run for other people. Morals break down when my life savings and livelihood are on the line.
Having said that, I don't think startups will suffer big time - but they were the ones also who created the bankrun fueled by VC panic. However mismanaged SVB was, given enough time they had enough resources to turn this around.