The unique success enjoyed by Silicon Valley Bank was the result of a long process that began at the vision of the bank by the original three founders, Medearis, Biggerstaff, and Smith. The key to success involved convincing the regulators to establish a bank for the tech sector. Educating the regulators required ongoing efforts in the first decade and thereafter. SVB lenders, including Harry Kellogg, convinced the regulators about the efficacy of tech lending.1

Banks know that customers hate them. That is the headline from a CNN Business report from a survey of banking executives.1 The financial crisis of 2008 engraved stains on banks that more than 80 percent of managers at banks, brokerages, and other financial services firms believe continue to have a negative impact on their companies. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup saw their biggest fall in reputation. Their names stayed in the headlines for settlements with the regulators reaching billions. Regulators imposed hefty fines against banks in 2021: Capital One, $390 million; Deutsche Bank, $130 million; Julius Baer, $79 million; Apple Bank for Savings, $12.5 million.2 The total fines against big banks in the United States in 2020 escalated to more than $11 billion, including the largest single fine issued against Goldman Sachs ($3.9 billion) and the second largest against Wells Fargo ($3 billion).3

The three founders of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) epitomize Californian determination and pragmatism. Medearis, the Stanford professor, who for ten years listened to his students struggling to obtain loans, decided to float an idea of a community bank for tech companies. The professor sought out a banking consultant who brought in a bank executive who carried his dream of founding his own bank, the trio together established a community bank for tech. Their backgrounds and convictions illuminate the startup spirit synonymous with Silicon Valley. Their journey led them to select what was then an uncommon name, Silicon Valley Bank, in 1983.