I still don't get what you're trying to say. If a startup fails, equity holders lose everything, same as in bank failures. But startups don't have depositors. B

I still don't get what you're trying to say. If a startup fails, equity holders lose everything, same as in bank failures. But startups don't have depositors. Bank depositors always get 100% up to the FDIC limit, but depositors are not equity investors, they're (very senior) debt holders. The price they pay for the safety is generally lower interest rates than junior creditors or preferred shares. For the other parties involved (employers, shareholders, other creditors) their risks and rewards aren't all that different from any other large company. AFAICT the only special stakeholders in banks are depositors. Are you trying to say that depositors should run a lot more risk (i.e. not always made whole in case of illiquidity/insolvency)?