For the Billion Dollar Mover that you are, this is not new news:
Silicon Valley Bank; what was said to be the epicenter of Silicon Valley tech and small businesses collapsed on March 10th after a run on the deposits doomed the banks plans to raise fresh capital.
At first, there was major concern that this crash will take the VC and startup ecosystem with it, but the gov swooped in and provided a backstop, and scraps of SVB was purchased by First Citizens Bank.
Catastrophe averted? Not quite.
Today’s episode is by no means a full breakdown of what happened, but answers this one question:
“Was this truly a Black Swan event as Nassim Taleb explains it or really, a Gray Rhino, as Best-Selling Author, my friend Michele Wucker writes?
And today we have her on the show exactly to speak to this – How should you be thinking about risk and what next? What are YOUR gray rhinos you’re not seeing?
About Michele:
Strategic advisor and best-selling author Michele Wucker coined the term “gray rhino” as a call to take a fresh look at how we respond to obvious, probable, impactful risks. She founded the Chicago-based advisory firm Gray Rhino & Company and is a former media and think tank executive. Her four influential books include the influential global bestseller THE GRAY RHINO: How to Recognize and Act on the Obvious Dangers We Ignore and the recently released sequel, YOU ARE WHAT YOU RISK: The New Art and Science of Navigating an Uncertain World.
EPISODE LINKS
Michele’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/wucker
The Gray Rhino: thegrayrhino.com
Michele’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wucker/
Billion Dollar Moves is THE show for the audacious next generation leader; featuring the top US-Asia founders, funders and execs. From the growing pains of a unicorn journey to IPO, scaling a venture capital firm, we cover it all in the world of venture & business. Learn from the crème de la crème so YOU too, can make #billiondollarmoves — in venture, in business, in life.
ABOUT MICHELE
Michele Wucker is a strategic advisor and best-selling author who coined the term “gray rhino” as a call to take a fresh look at obvious, probable, impactful risks that give us a choice to act or not. Her insights help to explain why some people step up to head off the dangers right in front of their eyes, yet others let themselves and those around them get trampled.
Michele introduced the gray rhino at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2013. It inspired her third book, the influential global best-seller, THE GRAY RHINO: How to Recognize and Act on Obvious Dangers We Ignore, in 2016. Drawing on her earlier work as a global economic policy analyst, financial journalist, and think tank executive, she is founder and CEO of the Chicago-based advisory firm Gray Rhino & Company to help business and policy decision makers to use gray rhino theory to improve their risk responses.
To her great surprise, Michele’s readers encouraged her to apply the concept to more personal issues. Her 2019 TED Talk about using the gray rhino in personal life has attracted more than 2.5 million views. Her newest book, YOU ARE WHAT YOU RISK: The New Art and Science of Navigating an Uncertain World, builds on insights into personality and societal influences on how and why different people respond to looming risks the way we do.
The gray metaphor made headlines around the world as a framework for the ignored warnings for the COVID-19 pandemic and has appeared in media in more than 70 countries and 35 languages and counting. It has sent tremors through global stock markets when Chinese officials warned of gray rhino financial risks. Central banks and securities regulators around the world use gray rhino theory, as do business strategists, boards of directors, business continuity and emergency management professionals, insurers, ESG specialists, and policy makers focused on everything from national security to climate change.
The concept also inspired a lyric in the hit single, “Blue & Grey,” by the global mega-K-Pop phenomenon BTS. It also has inspired characters in a video game and an experimental jazz single in Japan, and a dance choreography in Australia. The gray rhino also has appeared in the pages of books by respected historians and diplomats, a Brazilian self-help book, and a science fiction novel.
Michele speaks regularly to high-level audiences on risk management, the global economy, and decision-making, and is quoted often in leading media. She has been recognized as a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum and a Guggenheim Fellow, among other honors.
Other must-reads on Michele’s Work:
P.S IF YOU ENJOYED THIS EPISODE, I RECOMMEND THESE EPISODES:
1. NIR EYAL ON GETTING USERS HOOKED & BEING INDISTRACTABLE. HINT: TO-DO LISTS ARE CANCELLED!
2. FAILING IN PUBLIC & BILLION DOLLAR AMBITIONS: WITH VIVY YUSOF, CO-FOUNDER, FASHION VALET GROUP
3. SCALING TO A $4.2 BILLION BUSINESS WITH NICOLE SAHIN, FOUNDER & CEO, GLOBALIZATION PARTNERS (G-P)
LEAVE ME A REVIEW!
Your support for the show helps me amplify more voices so we can all lead, build and invest better and make #BillionDollarMoves, Tweet at me and leave me a review on Apple Podcasts, it will only take a minute of your time, and mean the world to me.
what others have said about billion dollar moves
subscribe now:
Disclaimer: This podcast is an expression of personal opinion and does not represent the opinion of the host Sarah Chen-Spellings (SCS) as an investor personally, her firm Beyond The Billion (BTB) or any company discussed. These discussions are for informational purposes only, including any mention of securities or venture funds; and does not constitute any investment, legal, tax advice. SCS or BTB may hold currently, or in the future, direct or indirect interests in the featured companies or funds. No guarantee of any kind is implied or possible where projections of future conditions are attempted.