SVB made loans to cash-rich companies approximate to their funding rounds, when they were least likely to immediately use the cash. These loans typically required the company to hold the money as a deposit in SVB. These deposits were used to buy long duration bonds.
In other words, SVB used these companies to produce new money that they could earn interest on.
Yeah, that's the kind of thing I'm imagining. Though it doesn't explain the VC tweetpanic unless they were getting kickbacks. Is there a cite for that, or a story posted somewhere?
The F-35 failed from a certain institutional perspective by becoming a real plane. It is no longer a magic money pot where you could park your pet projects for funding.
In other words, SVB used these companies to produce new money that they could earn interest on.