Can Community Banks Survive the Next SVB? | ModernFi CEO Paolo Bertolotti and Former Comptroller Gene Ludwig
The a16z Show20 Nov 2025

Can Community Banks Survive the Next SVB? | ModernFi CEO Paolo Bertolotti and Former Comptroller Gene Ludwig

The former bank regulator who invented deposit networks just revealed why SVB's collapse was inevitable—and why the solution that could have saved them is finally being rebuilt.

Gene Ludwig ran the OCC during the Clinton administration, created a half-trillion-dollar market solving a problem his Aunt Betty faced riding buses between banks, then watched his invention fail to save Silicon Valley Bank because the technology, economics, and incentives were fundamentally broken.

Now he's partnered with Paolo and ModernFi to build what could become America's eighth systemically important financial utility: a bank-owned consortium that's signing 25 institutions per week and racing to protect the 4.8 trillion in uninsured deposits that make the next crisis inevitable.

Resources:

Follow Gene on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gene-ludwig/

Follow Paolo on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paolombertolotti/

Follow David on X: https://x.com/dhaber

Stay Updated:

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends!

Find a16z on X: https://x.com/a16z

Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5bC65RDvs3oxnLyqqvkUYX

Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711

Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg

Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

Stay Updated:

Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube

Find a16z on X

Find a16z on LinkedIn

Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify

Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts

Follow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg

Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Avsnitt(1000)

What to Know about CFIUS

What to Know about CFIUS

When innovation and capital go global, so do restrictions on trade, foreign investment, and more. Over the past couple years, U.S. policymakers have expanded the scope of the Committee on Foreign Inve...

23 Dec 201946min

Are ISAs the Solution to Student Debt?

Are ISAs the Solution to Student Debt?

A bold proposal: You go to college for free, then pay back the school after graduation—but only if you get a job in your field of study and make a high enough salary to afford it. It's called an incom...

19 Dec 201927min

Shonda Rhimes on How to Create Stories (and Products) People Want

Shonda Rhimes on How to Create Stories (and Products) People Want

Hollywood and Silicon Valley seem so different, but are more alike than we think. What challenges do tech startup founders and other creative founders -- like showrunners and executive producers -- si...

17 Dec 201934min

The Journey from 0 to 1, from Mosaic to Netscape

The Journey from 0 to 1, from Mosaic to Netscape

As part of a new series where we will share select a16z partner appearances on other podcasts with our audience here, this episode is cross-posted from the new show Starting Greatness -- featuring int...

17 Dec 201944min

Direct Listings, Myths and Facts

Direct Listings, Myths and Facts

We’ve covered a lot of the strategic financing milestones for startups seeking to build a sustainable and enduring business -- from mindsets for startup fundraising to when and how to build a finance ...

11 Dec 201944min

The Stories and Code of Culture Change

The Stories and Code of Culture Change

There are some common tropes that can kill your company culture -- whether it's that corporate values can be weaponized; "fake it til you make it"; the "reality distortion fields" of visionaries vs. l...

7 Dec 201959min

Of Container Ships, Supply Chains, and Retail

Of Container Ships, Supply Chains, and Retail

This podcast rerun -- first recorded over two and a half years ago, now being rerun as one of our evergreen classics on the tails of the world's largest designated shopping days (Black Friday, Singles...

3 Dec 201933min

Nursing Today, From the Bedside and Beyond

Nursing Today, From the Bedside and Beyond

"Constant attention by a good nurse may be just as important as a major operation by a surgeon”, diplomat Dag Hammarskjöld once observed -- and that may be more true today than ever before. For most o...

28 Nov 201932min

Populärt inom Business & ekonomi

framgangspodden
varvet
rss-jossan-nina
rss-svart-marknad
rss-borsens-finest
svd-tech-brief
avanzapodden
uppgang-och-fall
badfluence
bathina-en-podcast
fill-or-kill
lastbilspodden
rss-inga-dumma-fragor-om-pengar
rss-dagen-med-di
dynastin
tabberaset
24fragor
rikatillsammans-om-privatekonomi-rikedom-i-livet
borsmorgon
kapitalet-en-podd-om-ekonomi