Silicon Valley Bank and Bladerunner Technologies

The case offers an overview of two companies: a boutique, regional bank that offers loans to venture-backed startups the high-technology and biotechnology industries; and a computer company that makes blade servers. In 2001, the bank lent an unusually large sum to the computer company, secured with assets from a personal guarantor. Midway through the payback period, the bank’s management discovered that the personal guarantor’s assets were illiquid. The case recounts the saga of how the bank attempted to recapture the loan by working with the guarantor, the company, and handing over the loan to the bank’s “workout” group.