I get that... what makes no sense is how Therano/Holmes didn't understand that. Almost their entire run has been "too good to be true", with major science people calling bullshit early on. Theranos had some pretty serious people on their BoD... it'll be interesting to see if anything happens to them.
It was a combination of her being the "next Steve Jobs, but female", and the crazy amount of investment she got without having to give up control. At all. It was still a company totally within her control, and it had hundreds of millions of dollars. She could have blown it all on pedicures for her dogs, and they couldn't have done fuck all about it. That made everyone look and say, "what the hell is so special about her and Theranos that this is happening?" But then they partnered with Walgreens, lawsuits happened, and it got really public outside of the VC circle-jerk. Then they fired their Chief "Scientist", who started talking, and then they lied on SEC filings. It'll be interesting to watch how this unfolds.
If you're interested in the Theranos story, the guy you should be reading about is Tyler Shultz: https://www.forbes.com/sites/elliek...-back-into-diagnostic-testing/2/#48a720e0fd5f He's the guy who blew the whistle on what was going on. This was an interesting ride for Holmes... went from being worth $4.5 billion to nothing. https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthe...eranos-founder-elizabeth-holmes/#46484b803633
I hate to use this as a reasoning, but the fact is if you look at her background, she was pretty privileged. She had access to a ton of high profile people other start up CEOs would not normally have had. Combine that with her being told her shit smells like roses 24/7, she probably started believing the lie and hoping that luck would magically come out in her favor. Thats conjecture, but Im guessing it played a factor.
I agree. SOOOO MUCH of the VC world is based on who you know and selling yourself personally, and she did a great job at that. A really, really great job, and I think a large part of that success was due to her upbringing and the circles her family ran in.
VC Investment is a crap shoot almost every time. Through my last employer I got a chance to talk to a number of very high-profile investors... like guys who were first in to Twitter, Uber, etc. A lot of their investments have a "I don't want to be the guy who missed out" component to it... if one of their friends/associates dumps some cash into a project, then they want to be in as well, for fear of being "that guy" at the next power lunch who missed the opportunity. So once you get one major investor, odds are you'll have a bunch more lined up, and some of them want to thump their chests and go in bigger than their friends. The way most of them invest in new companies, if 1 in 10 actually breaks even, that's considered a major win. Combine that with the "women in VC/SF Tech" push, and this was like a perfect storm for her to raise investment.
She had more than just the VC people snowed. I believe both Bill Frist and Sam Nunn have served on the Board of Directors at Theranos. Both of them are brilliant and some of the finest people to serve in Congress. And, both have a solid reputation for developing bi-partisan support for many causes and legislation.
So I’m told Holmes only has to pay a half million dollar fine for defrauding $700 million? Is she still being criminally I nvestigated, because it seems she did far more damage to investors than Shkreli did. I guess punishment is determined by how punchable your face is.
I think it's a case of "you wouldn't understand, because... science..." They trusted those that were reporting to them, and they were the ones that were in on the snow job.
She's wiped out... doubt she can even pay that $500k. The SEC only deals with SEC stuff... it can't put people in jail, etc. There may well be a push to have criminal investigations happen based on "potential danger to the public", especially in light of the Walgreen's partnership.
That list is quite out of date. So far, they've almost all distanced themselves from her, and I doubt she'll ever be trusted or be able to raise investment again. In the end, she took their money... and nothing pisses off a VC more than stealing their money.
By titling that "Fanboys" whomever put that picture together can fuck right off. Only Foege is still on the Board of Directors. I don't know anything about the rest of that panel, but to lump Nunn and Frist in with Holmes bullshit because they served on the board in the past is a quick way to lose an argument.
Yep. If I remember correctly, they were one of the first ones to bail as soon as they got a whiff of impropriety.
Do you find it funny when people try to con the science community— of all things? When it comes to religion, you sell an invisible product: It’s easy to fool people. But in science they are real products in front of you. So how do people believe they will fool the community that specializes in research?
They weren't trying to con the science community... it was that science community that was calling bullshit on them. It was all the non-science types that bought into it because they didn't know enough to understand it. People believe what they want to believe, and are motivated to believe shit they want to be true. That's EVERYWHERE right now. Fake News, or investment... or hell, even cryptocurrency. People want to get rich, so they ignore things that get in the way. I deal with startups all the time... and the hardest thing to do is to get a co-founder to listen to your technical findings if he doesn't like what he hears. It's like a patient who's told that they have cancer... they will keep going to new doctors until they find the one that says, "no, you're fine", or "here, there's a cure down in Brazil at this commune..." At my last job, for instance, the CEO didn't like me telling him my honest appraisal of what was going on, because it sucked. So he brought in someone to replace me that was telling him what he wanted to hear. It's human nature.
A pedestrian bridge just collapsed in Miami, multiple deaths already. Time to ban assault bridges. I'll be organizing a walk out protest in support of the ban if anyone would like to join.
This would make sense if there was a rash of people acquiring bridges to purposely harm/kill people with them.