Revising the ‘Cold War’ at Techstars: CEO Maëlle Gavet’s Struggle to Drive Change
Last spring, founders from all over the world began their treks to Techstars’ Stockholm accelerator program. Their backdrop was solemn: A bank run was in the process of crushing Silicon Valley Bank, and the entire startup industry was on edge.
The bank’s parent company, SVB Financial, was a major investor in Techstars and, like much of the startup world, Techstars had a sizable deposit there, according to sources. No one knew at the time whether those deposits would be wiped out.
A day before the bank completely collapsed, Techstars Stockholm Managing Director Alfredo Jollon posted an essay on LinkedIn saying he had bought shares in SVB Financial. His post expressed overall support for the bank, founders from the Techstars Stockholm program recalled, and came as VCs were telling their portfolio companies to withdraw their money from the bank.
What happened next was two weeks of chaos, according to at least four founders who were there.
On orders from Techstars CEO Maëlle Gavet, Jollon was told to take down the post because Techstars didn’t want to publicize its relationship with the bank, several founders recalled. Jollon didn’t immediately agree, but after a bit of back-and-forth, which included a threat to fire him, Jollon complied and removed the post. Gavet later published her own, more neutral social me...
