'I don't know how this ends': Mom with 4 kids in Ohio who owns small startup says SVB mess is not just a '1% problem'

• Silicon Valley Bank, a startup-heavy financial institution once trusted by the tech world, collapsed this week.
• Regulators shut down the bank, affecting major companies like Roku and Etsy.

The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank this week has sent companies from Etsy to Roku into disarray. But for some smaller startups, the bank's shutdown is particularly harsh.

"The collapse of SVB might look like a 1% problem that only impacts the coastal-tech-elite. Not true," wrote Lindsey Michaelides on Twitter. Michaelides is the founder and CEO of the startup Strongsuits, which sells organizational software.

"This impacts small businesses made up of hard-working people making modest mortgage payments in the midwest," Michaelides continued. "This impacts parents putting dinner on the table."

Silicon Valley Bank, a major financial institution that frequently worked with startups, collapsed days ago, throwing the tech world into a spiral. The bank, which just last month ranked among the top 20 in Forbes' list of best US banks of 2023, was shut down by regulators Friday and the FDIC took over control.

The collapse has affected companies like Etsy, forced to delay payments to many who sell goods on its site. Other major companies impacted by the collapse include streaming device-maker Roku, which had nearly $500 million in the bank, and the online video game platform Roblox.

In a lengthy Twitter thread, Michaelides described her risky decision to launch Stronguits in 2018 just after her second child was born. She soon learned she was pregnant again with twins, but kept pushing to make Strongsuits work, she wrote.

"I grew the business while navigating a high-risk pregnancy. I'd stop to see my ob en-route to the airport to get cleared to travel," she wrote. "Later, I pitched via Zoom well before it was acceptable. The hard work paid off. I secured our 1st investor shortly after my twins were born."

Now, Michaelides isn't sure what will happen to Strongsuits and her 15 employees, or what's next for her family.

"I don't know how this ends. I know that the financial future of Strongsuit; my team and my family are at risk w/ the collapse of SVB. I know that my story and the stories of thousands like me that have been impacted by SVB's collapse do not match the current narrative," she wrote. "