How CAMP CEO Ben Kaufman turned SVB's collapse into a brand-building experiment

Ben Kaufman doesn't want you to forget the fear he felt on March 10, 2023. That's when the founder and CEO of CAMP, a national chain of "family experience" stores, was shocked to learn that the Silicon Valley bank had collapsed. Suddenly Kaufman couldn't access the money he needed to run the business. He was not even sure that part of this capital could be lost forever.

So the seasoned entrepreneur wrote an email and sent it out to CAMP's entire client list. "It was a call for help," Kaufman says. "We knew we had a loyal following that might be supporting us through the weekend."

He followed that up with an Instagram post that featured a promo code 'BANKRUN' for 40% off and an image of a shot child next to lines like 'I never liked the Bay Area' and "it sucks".

What followed was an overwhelming show of support, with more sales in the next 48 hours than he normally had in a month.

Now that the danger has passed with the government stepping in to protect the repositories, Kaufman can reflect on what he has learned from his experience. This has allowed him to connect with his customers and the community that CAMP has built. It also made him recognize the vulnerabilities of being locked into a single bank.

"At the start of CAMP, Silicon Valley Bank was the only bank willing to give us a line of credit", s...