Our Statement on Silicon Valley Bank
Like many others we are stunned with how the situation has evolved and wished to speak out as we learn more today and tomorrow morning.
When we started Counter Club five years ago, our support for the initiative began with a call to one organization: Silicon Valley Bank. They were the obvious first call. SVB was the bedrock of the CVC community. We coined them the “OG of CVC” as their fingerprints were everywhere. SVB was an ardent supporter of CVC in its nascent days when few stepped up to back corporate investment firms. They supported everyone, whether you were just getting off the ground or a sophisticated CVC shop. I’m sure many readers of this newsletter can confirm their unwavering level of support. If you were organizing an event, whether it was your fund’s annual conference, simple happy hour gathering, elaborate dinner - SVB was pretty much always the first call. Let’s be honest, this wasn’t because your event was phenomenally special, it was because SVB personified the definition of loyal partners. In fact, at Counterpart Ventures we never referred to SVB as a “sponsor”; oh no, they were our partners during every step of the journey. The wonderful team at SVB was motivated by one concept: the importance of relationships.
Our initial supporters at SVB were Tracy Isacke and Barry O’Brien, whom led the Corporate Venture Capital practice. That role is now occupied by our friend Mark Gallagher. I’m sure so many of you reading this newsletter have met Tracy, Barry, Mark or another member of the Corporate Ventures team (Melina, Sophie, Charlie, Emma, the list goes on and on) and felt their personal touch and incredible willingness to support your work. Since 2018 they backed Counter Club events with robust financial support, invaluable in-kind work and so much more behind the scenes. Last September’s incredibly successful Counter III, the industry’s premier CVC conference, was only made possible due to SVB’s support.
It took four decades to build SVB and their impact on the VC and CVC industries goes unmatched. No other firm has had the presence and impact in our industries over such a prolonged period of time.
We wanted to take this moment to thank our friends at SVB in the Corporate Ventures team: Mark Gallagher, Melina Bergkamp, Sophie McNaught, Charlie Walker, Emma Eschweiler, Tori Deems, Max Montano, Ariana Ognibene, Gerald Brady, Khanh Truong, Kelly Douglas, Eli Oftedal, Liz Cahill and several others that have been part of the team over the last five years.
Again, we want to take this moment to express our sincere gratitude to all the wonderful people at SVB whom we have worked with over the years.
Counterpart Ventures
Patrick Eggen, Joe Saijo, Mikey Kailis & Tanvi Narain