Candid tip #5: Lessons from the Silicon Valley Bank fiasco you can apply to your career.
Career Takeaways from the SVB crisis.
If you’ve been on the internet the past week, you might have heard the name “SVB”.
For those unaware, SVB, or Silicon Vally Bank was one of the top 20 largest banks in the USA and was the “go-to bank” for startups and VCs.
As of last week, Silicon Valley Bank’s value dipped by 60% in less than two days, leading to its downfall.
Why? All thanks (or no thanks) to fundamental mistakes and uncalculated decisions.
While we can dig deeper into this whole crisis, I’d like to shift your focus to the learnings emerging from this downfall.
5 lessons from the SVB crisis that you can apply in your career
Don’t mess up your fundamentals
Think about it - Silicon Valley Bank, an institute created to manage your money, had to shut down because it didn’t work its money well.
Now, apply the same in your career. You might be super-skilled with a Frontend language, but if you don’t understand software development fundamentals, it can only get you so far in your career.
Diversify
SVB started focusing too much only on tech companies which initially worked in their favor and they managed to triple in size due to the funding boom during the pandemic.
However, when the funding winter hit, SVB saw a slow-down in the daily deposits and eventually ran out of capital which was the beginning of their downfall.
The lesson here? Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
If you are a blockchain developer, don’t limit yourself only to blockchain/WEB3 companies and skills because “crypto is the future”. Or, if you’re working in a fintech domain today, don’t limit yourself only to fintech companies when considering a switch.
Diversify to stay relevant.Titles sound good only on paper
SVB, Silicon Valley Bank, every tech company’s most trusted partner - all of these are just a title today and hold no value after the bank’s downfall.
Similarly, “tech lead”, “VP of engineering”, “engineering manager” etc. all sound fancy on paper, and people get lost chasing these titles in the name of building their career.
However, if you’re not focused on learning the latest tech and upskilling yourself, these titles will become irrelevant very fast.
Be proactive
SVB could’ve very easily avoided this crisis if it didn’t get complacent and acted at the right time.
Similarly, choosing to get complacent with how much you know and the “baad me dekha jayega” attitude can very quickly lead to stagnation or worse, downfall.Be unique and stand out
While SVB was facing the heat in the USA, SVC (or Shamra Vithal Co-operative bank) from India was a victim of rumor-mongering and had to put out a statement to its customers asking them not to panic.
In parallel, if your career doesn’t stand out, it could lead to people reacting to your application based on the general sentiment of the market. You need to stand out to be able to create a mark.
(NOTE: This point was made just for the LOLs 😄)
While Silicon Valley Bank didn’t get a chance to check itself before it wrecked itself, it doesn’t have to be the same with your career.
You can take these tips to heart or with a grain of salt, but there’s one thing you can’t skip - carefully planning your moves and taking the right action at the right time can take you a long way.
