My startup banking story (2023)
13 days ago
- #banking
- #founder-lessons
- #startup
- Mitchell Hashimoto shares his naive banking journey as a young startup founder.
- Opens a Chase business account with a $20,000 personal loan, unaware of banking nuances.
- After raising $1M seed round, receives unexpected calls from the banker, Alex, about large deposits.
- Continues to ignore banking relationships, raising $10.2M Series A and $24M Series B without engaging with the bank.
- Hires a VP of Finance who suggests moving to Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) for better startup-focused services.
- Transfers $35M from Chase to SVB, leading to agitation from Alex, who was unaware of the move.
- Discovers Chase used HashiCorp as a case study for startup banking patterns after the abrupt transfer.
- Years later, finds out customers were still paying into the old Chase account, leading to $100K+ fraud.
- Attempts to close the account but faces bureaucratic hurdles, eventually withdrawing $1M via a cashier's check.
- Reflects on the experience as a lesson in banking relationships and founder naivety.