Rob Freelen

VC @ Sozo Ventures, former SVBer, and views are my own.

[Rob Freelen @RobFreelen]

Excited to join this amazing group of Kauffman Fellows.

[Kauffman Fellows @KauffmanFellows]

@KavitaGupta19 @Deltabc_fund @matt_maurer @ElohoGM @TLcomCapital @aaronqfu @DCGco @venture4africa @latitudlatam @ginag @nmachijidenma @generalcatalyst @aakash_kpr @peakxvpartners @sclarsic @VoyagerVC @Getaround @MIT @ModernMeadow @HomeworldBio @katkennedyVC @KickstartFund @TheKofiAmpadu @a16z @TessaFlippin @CapitalizeVC @BLCKVC @chicago_blend @bharadwaj_avi @intelcapital @derek_chu @FirstMarkCap @Airbnb @MenloVentures @Wharton @collab_capital @kk_goldstein @53Stations @HarlemCapital @TShalalvand @KinnevikAB @500global @alaina_hartley @greycroftvc @TJVapola After 17 years at SVB where he was Head of VC Relationship Management, @RobFreelen has dedicated the rest of his career to helping founders build industry-changing companies. In addition to MD at @SozoVentures, Rob co-founded a VC-backed FinTech & an early-stage wine company.

[Kauffman Fellows @KauffmanFellows]

@KavitaGupta19 @Deltabc_fund @matt_maurer @ElohoGM @TLcomCapital @aaronqfu @DCGco @venture4africa @latitudlatam @ginag @nmachijidenma @generalcatalyst @aakash_kpr @peakxvpartners @sclarsic @VoyagerVC @Getaround @MIT @ModernMeadow @HomeworldBio @katkennedyVC @KickstartFund @TheKofiAmpadu @a16z @TessaFlippin @CapitalizeVC @BLCKVC @chicago_blend @bharadwaj_avi @intelcapital @derek_chu @FirstMarkCap @Airbnb @MenloVentures @Wharton @collab_capital @kk_goldstein @53Stations @HarlemCapital @TShalalvand @KinnevikAB @500global @alaina_hartley @greycroftvc @TJVapola After 17 years at SVB where he was Head of VC Relationship Management, @RobFreelen has dedicated the rest of his career to helping founders build industry-changing companies. In addition to MD at @SozoVentures, Rob co-founded a VC-backed FinTech & an early-stage wine company.

[Rob Freelen @RobFreelen]

@peterpham @friezeofficial So true, but more importantly there’s no @LiquidDeath.

[Rob Freelen @RobFreelen]

@friezeofficial and saw @peterpham, oil on linen.

[Rob Freelen @RobFreelen]

@tcufrog99 AMAZING STORY, Dax.

[Rob Freelen @RobFreelen]

The story this doesn’t tell is the fact that SVB didn’t sponsor festivals, teams, or major consumer-focused events. That left them the ability to spend marketing dollars getting Founders/VCs together in shared experiences. Those experiences facilitated deals. Win-win.

[paigecraig @paigecraig]

Some of my SVB thoughts published at Wired today https://t.co/4WI1OnTZTC cc @RobFreelen @htaneja

[Rob Freelen @RobFreelen]

@alex In order of increasing anger: Blink 182 "Dammit", Offspring "Bad Habit", Rage Against the Machine "Bulls on Parade"

[Rob Freelen @RobFreelen]

Actually, SVB did sponsor @EF_TIBCO_SVB womens cycling team and I'm VERY sad to think they will have a huge hole in their 2023 budget.

[Rob Freelen @RobFreelen]

@tcufrog99 @msuster @SozoVentures Miss you too Dax! Amazing post on LinkedIn - incredible leadership with so much heart. ❤️

[Rob Freelen @RobFreelen]

1/ 🙏 @msuster - You're right. It's understandable to be angry about decisions at #SVB, but the bottom line is that VC & tech are better off with a healthy SVB. But in order to #savesvb @SozoVentures and I are asking clients to #redeposit at SVB. Here's why:

[Mark Suster @msuster]

1/ Update on what I know about SVB situation. New info on industry call with new CEO last night.

Their main message, "we are open for business, your deposits are fully FDIC insured & safe"

They understand you will have cash in multiple banks, they would like to be one of them

[Rob Freelen @RobFreelen]

@dunkhippo33 After 17 years at SVB, and the last 5 days that felt longer than 17 years, I must say that @dunkhippo33 is the best CPRO I’ve ever seen on Twitter. Bravo! 👏🏻

[Rob Freelen @RobFreelen]

Hell yeah. 🙌🏻

[villi @villi]

Just got off the phone with a founder who moved his cash from SVB to Big Bank yesterday. His thoughts:
- Going back to SVB. I think it is now the safest bank in the U.S.
- Experience with Big Bank was awful. They are terrible.
- Want to support SVB. Will move back half of $.

[Rob Freelen @RobFreelen]

3/ SVB's plea for help in stemming the bank run fell on deaf ears. Regardless of how you feel about (a) companies who moved money, or (b) VCs who fueled the bank run, now companies & VCs who #redeposit @ SVB, at zero incremental risk, and help #savesvb. NOW IS THE TIME!

[Rob Freelen @RobFreelen]

2/ (a) SVB is now the safest US bank, with 100% FDIC insurance on every dollar, (b) SVB is honoring all loan commitments, (c) SVB resumed new loan originations today, and (d) in the unlikely event the FDIC winds down SVB someday, the deposits would be available within 24 hours.

[Rob Freelen @RobFreelen]

@semil @bryce

[Rob Freelen @RobFreelen]

@intoxillecture @htaneja FDIC Deposit Insurance Fund is funded by banks, not the government. The big banks will actually pay to support uninsured depositors.

[Rob Freelen @RobFreelen]

@aargreen @dee_bosa You're talking about a bank with exceptional credit quality (from regulators) year after year, decade after decade, through all cycles. What is it that "got them in trouble"??? Get your facts straight.

[Rob Freelen @RobFreelen]

@dee_bosa You're absolutely right @dee_bosa. As a 17-year SVB alum, I can tell you that the other people in this feed are patently inaccurate - they didn't get the lending piece wrong in any way. They were making loans no other bank could *safely* figure out how to make at scale.

[Rob Freelen @RobFreelen]

Thank you Michael Moritz. Well said.

[Financial Times @FinancialTimes]

SVB provided for tech when everyone else ignored us https://t.co/neS0XHvpvD

[Rob Freelen @RobFreelen]

YES @BillAckman - regional banks are critical infrastructure. Unless someone buys #SVB tech will find out what happens when a critical provider goes down. Let's hope D.C. hears the message and increases/extends FDIC insurance soon. Time to admit all deposits are equally important

[Bill Ackman @BillAckman]

Our economy will not function effectively without our community and regional banking system. Therefore, the @FDICgov needs to explicitly guarantee all deposits now. Hours matter.

We also need a modern version of our deposit insurance regime, but that will take some time, and that’s ok as long as all deposits are guaranteed in the interim.

Regional bank stocks are an incredible bargain now as long as the gov’t does the right thing, and I am confident it will.

This means that one of the great trades would be to buy regional bank stocks or ETFs here. And the massive decline in rates makes this an even better investment now.

This is not without real risk, but it does offer very attractive asymmetry. I would be surprised if Warren isn’t putting capital to work in his favorite regional banks now.

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to participate as we decided that we wouldn’t invest long or short in banks as I want to continue to be part of this conversation and be able to share my views without the typical accusations against investors who share their views while having a trade on.

But to be clear, I have an enormous conflict. We are 100%+ long North American companies. And we are all an enormous beneficiary of the success of our country and our banking system. So let’s hope our gov’t gets this right.