Silicon Valley Bank In Short

TOGETHER WITH

Competition can be an excellent teacher.

It's important to keep in mind that time may be wasted trying to beat the guy down the street. It may never take you anywhere you want to be.

Competing against your past self, your top score, and the public's unchallenged perception of who you really are will always take you somewhere better.

Let's do better for ourselves, our teams, and our communities. And let’s do it together!Keep pushing back,-Paul, Kyle, & Chris

MARKETS

SVB: What Is A Bank Collapse?

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Ok, so, the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapsed last week. In this instance, "collapse" means the bank's level of cash on hand dropped below the amount of money its clients deposited, forcing regulators to close them.

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SVB announced $1.8B in losses on investments, which led to venture capital firms suggesting companies pull out of the bank. This snowballed into a series of withdrawals adding to regulators' need to step in to protect depositors.

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The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation stepped in, shut down SVB, and, for now, runs the bank as the Deposit Insurance National Bank of Santa Clara.

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Sunday, regulators announced all SVB depositors would have full access to their money They are also extending protection to depositors of Signature Bank of New York, which was closed over the weekend.

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President Biden gave a speech on Monday ensuring Americans that they can have confidence in the banking system.

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Ripples from the shutdown have affected bank stock values nationwide and had other impacts on the US financial system, such as a drop in mortgage rates to 6.57% from a recent high of 7.05%.

Telling it like it is - Dang, don’t you hate when you have more theoretical money than real money? That’s how they get ya!

TOGETHER WITH IMPEL

After Hour Straight Talk

Did you know that 40% of dealership leads come in after hours? Everybody knows addressing and booking all those inquiries is a wild fantasy…

Or is it?!

Impel has the solution! Their Sales AI is available 24/7 and responds to phone and internet inquiries with personalized messages even after-hours.

Jeremy Nowling from Rohrman Automotive Group shared his experience with Impel's innovative Sales AI technology. The solution helped his team capture and convert more leads while allowing them to focus on customers in person. One of the stores even saw a 43% increase in showroom appointments from online leads, many of which were generated outside of regular working hours.

Check out the rest of Jeremy's glowing review about Impel now.

AUTOMOTIVE

Rivian and Amazon, Buick’s Huge Screen, and Toyota Dissects a Tesla.

Rivian and Amazon are going steady, but they may be seeing other people soon. Talks between the EV maker and its largest shareholder seek to end the exclusivity portion of their electric van deal. If a satisfying agreement is found, both companies can enter electric van buying or selling agreements with other companies.

Reservation invitation. Following a year of delays and production struggles, thousands of Rivian R1T reservation holders can finally expect invitations to the automaker's truck configuration tool. Once customers select and submit options, delivery is estimated to be "in the next 1-4 months."

Oh, so Amazon can use a Rivian to deliver my new socks in 5 hours, but Rivian needs another 4 months to deliver a Rivian to its new owner? #sus.

Buick's Electra EV has a bigger TV than we did growing up. The brand has not released powertrain info, but a 30-inch screen will replace everything that was once a gauge or button.

Back in 1986, the Buick Riviera introduced us to the first in-car touch-screen, so it seems putting screens in cars is a bit of a passion project for the company.

All we really want is a bunch of switches above our head that play a role in making the car go. That’s as sci-fi as we have asked to go!

Speaking of Buick and screens… We assume you've seen the viral image of a digital billboard offering a 2004 Buick Regal "clean, rust-free, 40K miles" to anybody willing to date the owner's son?

Well buckle up, because that ad is fake. The entire image and its explosion into viral awareness is part of a promotion for a movie called "No Hard Feelings." The movie centers around Uber driver Jennifer Lawrence who answers a similar ad. Hurray for social hacking...

Tesla has lots of fans. Maybe none as fervent as Elon Musk, but lots all the same.

One we didn't expect is Toyota, who recently tore apart a Model Y to see what Tesla is doing right.

Toyota, still the biggest automaker by volume, called the EV a "work of art." In support of their claim, Toyota cited the Model Y’s floor made of a structural battery pack and the giga casting tech that makes a whole body from a few massive parts. These large parts are quicker to make and easier to assemble than traditional forms of chassis manufacturing.

Ultimately, the engineers named four main advantages Tesla has, but Toyota lacks.

• A dedicated platform

• Advanced battery tech

• A designated EV production site

• Software-defined architecture

If we understand the list as a plan, Toyota may be the next legacy OEM to split its EV business from ICE in an attempt to catch up and establish itself in the electric space.

Here we were assuming we didn’t learn anything useful in 9th-grade biology class… 🐸

TL: DR - Rivian wants to sell more vans than Amazon wants to buy (Or maybe it’s vice versa), Buick added a car to a big TV (or maybe it's vice versa), and Toyota says Tesla EVs are art on the inside (we are sure this one doesn’t work vice versa).

CULTURE

Hollywood's Most Extravagant Swag Bag

No matter which names are announced when the envelopes open at the Oscars, one thing is guaranteed for many — a lavish gift bag. This year’s selection of goodies was worth an estimated $126K and took nominees multiple suitcases to transport all of the items. The most expensive inclusions were:

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$9K: A three-night stay at the Faro Punta Imperatore Lighthouse in Ischia, Italy for the nominee and up to seven friends, with an option to include a yacht trip to Capri.

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$10K: Beautifying procedures and products, such as rejuvenation treatments, facials, oxygen-rich makeup, and Botox.

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$40K: The most expensive item is a trip to a 10-acre estate just outside Ottawa, Canada as part of the “Lifestyle Getaway,” and includes the use of ultra-fancy cars, like the 2023 McLaren Artura, during the stay.

Unfortunately. not everyone wins a gift bag — only nominees up for awards in the four main acting categories and Best Director.

The IRS gets excited about the gifts, too. Anything that celebrities accept or redeem is considered taxable income, meaning the IRS is one of the night’s big winners as well.

Telling it like it is - No wonder they always say it’s an honor just to be nominated.

Quick Hits

• Amish folks are digging electric bikes. Apparently its quicker, easier, and comes with a significantly smaller chance of stepping in anything undesirable.

• Season 1 of HBO’s adaptation of The Last Of Us is over and we are still shook.

• Scientists have created, and tested, a material that provides resistance-free energy transmission. It could also revolutionize medical equipment and magnetic field based transportation.

• Bitcoin value spikes following Silicon Valley bank collapse.

History

• 1794: American inventor Eli Whitney received a patent for the cotton gin.

• 1879: German-American physicist Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany.

• 1900: US Congress passed The Gold Standard Act, defining the United States dollar by gold weight.

• 1914: NASCAR-great Lee Petty was born.