Newsworthy topics that have distracted me from creative writing

SVB collapse, TikTok bans, Indy awards Short Round with his Oscar

I’m a little late with my weekly blog, because I’m having trouble focusing on my own subject matter, with the deluge of new information. So this week I’m doing things a little different, and maybe I’ll take this route on a more regular basis. If you like this (or don’t) let me know! I’m still figuring this out, so please share any opinions or suggestions.

The fall of Silicon Valley Bank

Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images via USA Today

We’ve all heard about the collapse of SVB, and there are conversations happening on every corner of the internet. I think it’s important to share my hot-takes from working at early-stage companies and what this could look like at the average 50 person startup:

1. We learned today that the FDIC will cover all depositors funds, even if they’re over $250k, which is pocket change for a high-growth startup. They will not, however, cover investors’ funds. Basically, they are going to liquidate the assets and use that money to cover deposits. I’m curious to see how long this will take, and if taxpayer money will truly not come into play.

2. Etsy uses SVB, and they have been telling their sellers—who own small businesses— that there will be a delay in their payments. How long of a “delay”, Etsy?

3. Peter Thiel, of venture capital firm Founders Fund, withdrew all of his money ahead of the announcement on Thursday, then advised all of his portfolio companies to withdraw theirs. Effectively catalyzing a bank run.

4. SVB CEO Gregory Becker withdrew $3.5 million in assets 2 weeks prior to the collapse. This is hot topic, so I think there is going to be much more coming out about this in the coming days and weeks.

5. I’ve been following Ka Burbank who runs Economics for the People. She explains this issue in a video that I think is worth watching.

Banning TikTok is censorship

I know most of my audience is Millennials and Gen X, and we came from a time on social media that it was a quiet activity. You can go to Instagram and scroll pictures in a waiting room at the dentist. At least I think that’s why so many older generations don’t use it, but if you’re not on TikTok, you’re missing a lot.

1. TikTok is not competing with Meta or any other social media network; it’s competing with streaming services and Google search. While instagram is trying to figure out how to force content down the throats of people who want silent activities and to see content from their friends, TikTok is shaking the ground that Netflix and Google stand on.

2. TikTok is like Twitter when we were live tweeting and livestreaming protests in 2011. It’s boots on the ground people sharing what is going on from the blizzards in the California mountains, to the ice storms in the PNW, to people living in a Target during the blizzard in Buffalo.

   All I can say, is that I usually know what is going on days or weeks before my friends and family do. Did you know there’s a trash strike in Paris right now? Because the Government is trying to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. Let that sink in.

3. Meta is funding this ban via GOP consulting firm Targeted Victory. Targeted Victory is a firm founded by the digital director of Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign. The Washington Post published the original report, but since it’s behind a paywall, I’ve linked a story from Protocol.com here.

4. TikTok taking your data is a red herring. We have already confirmed the Cambridge Analytica scandal that proved Facebook was being used to tamper with our elections, and it’s suspected that the bill to ban TikTok will increase stock prices of Google, Meta, and Snap Inc. Every tech company is stealing your information and making money off of it, to boot.

   That said, you shouldn’t have any social media on any government device.

Indy and Short Round reunite on the Oscars stage

Photo: Paramount, Rich Polk/Variety Via Getty

Watching Ke Huy Quan win Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Waymund Wang in one of my favorite movies of all time Everything Everywhere All at Once, and reuniting on stage with Harrison Ford for Best Picture made me ugly cry. My little millennial heart could not contain the joy of seeing one of my favorite characters, from one of my favorite movies, succeed on this most respected stage in the industry. After all, “Goonies never say die!”

Quan had left acting after success in his two iconic and beloved roles as Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Data in The Goonies. He explained that there weren’t roles for Asian actors, so he put his dream on hold for 25 years. The lesson from this is to never give up on your dreams.

One final fun fact is that that Jeff Cohen, who played Chunk in The Goonies, is Quan’s lawyer, and obviously his Goonies brother for life.

*can’t stop crying*

Needless to say, it was an inspiring way to begin the week, as I’m following the breadcrumbs to my own dreams. This is your sign to let go of the fear and try.