OT - Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos
- Thread starter Nitwit
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anon_1eeb2b426hv3y
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and by anyone, you're mostly right. Even then the critical eye was mostly closed.
The top decision-makers at Walgreens, who couldn't wait to commit huge funds and ignore the reality surrounding them, came off looking like the jokes they are. Ignore everything and idolize Elizabeth.
And George Shultz, dear God! If John C's portrayal is accurate, he sold his soul and grandson out for his unicorn crush.
Eh. Political has beens who are living on old gravitas but can be easily manipulated and used are a dime a dozen
Evidently.
It was harder back in the day. Grant wrote his memoirs to pay off his debts.
Anyone read them?
It’s amazing how dysfunctional the system has become. “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere arnachy is loosed upon the world.”
He did for more than that. He heroically finished them while in great pain to leave something for his family. I’ve read portions. They are outstanding and put a lie to the common perception of him at the time. They are considered among the best writings of their kind
Whats the stupidest thing she did? Sticking around when she knew the whole thing was a scam. Shoulda cashed in a bunch of stock, or hidden away a bunch of mullah, and split for some country with extradition to the USA. Coulda lived a life of luxury somewhere.
that is because executives in company's now don't care about 5 years from now. they care about 2-3 years from now when they can claim victory in investing in new companies, etc....drive up the stock price a few point, and go out on a high with a golden parachute. if the house of card crumbles doesn't matter to them as long as they cashed out already.
Thank you very much. I’ve got the summer coming up.
She couldn't do that. There are a lot of controls on cash disbursements. And, cashing out would have met with a true scrutinizing eye.
Besides, I imagine like most millennials she believed she was right in the end and expected to get her way.
I don't watch a lot of shark tank but there was a good clip from this guy who had an app for airports. Cuban tore him a new one.
I found the tail end:
This is how this generation think.
LdN
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anon_1eeb2b426hv3y
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By the few other accounts I’ve seen, an otherwise seriously impressive man. And even in this, certainly a strong character. I have difficulty with siding with Holmes over family (and really selling out his grandson) but who knows the private details of that relationship.
yes- he was a very fine writer, clearly a much smarter man than the writers of many Civil War "histories" would have you believe. I highly recommend it.
And if you'd like to read a pretty unbiased comparison of Grant and Lee, look for "Grant and Lee- A Study in Personality and Generalship" by Major General J.F.C. Fuller, a British general.
Did you ever hear her speak? - there a re "man hands" and "man voices" - she has a man voice - but I digress, she was a fraud from day one - greed will always get you in the end.
well he had a right to be upset as it sounded like he put his heart and soul into it. he went a little overboard at the end with the crying to mom that is where i think millennials, in general, are different that other generations. most other generations would have been pissed off and angry upset, not crying upset. And give credit to mom for telling him he had to go back to work on it and move forward. a lot of boomer moms would have told him that he was right and they were wrong and said everything would be ok. She consoled him like a mom should and then pivoted to telling him he had to get back to work.
Being on the show is and of itself a H U G E win.
I’m not sure what percentage.....maybe 20-25% (???).....go on the show just for the publicity with no intention of making a deal.
Finally saw the movie. First, have to be careful about HBO "documentaries" and dramas. Having said that, awesome movie and a show everyone should watch. This is the world of VC. Decisions are made that defy explanation. At the same time, for the well connected.
I noticed a trend in corporations lately. The "Corporate Development" teams are chock full of CEO kids. These are the groups who interact with Investment Bankers.
I didn't see this film, but your last sentence is extremely true.
LdN
the investment community has trouble with early stage companies in general, but even worse when they are called a "disruption to the established way". at the startup phase these firms VCs bet 95% on the person and 5% on the idea, so there is very little due diligence on the technologies. usually, the bet in the person was based on prior track record. However, in recent times, and especially in SV, Boston, etc, there has been a need to invest in an "inclusive" manner, so go put money in the "under represented". women entrepreneurs will then get even fewer questions, as there is a hope they will succeed. the assumption is that the under representation is a result of deep seeded bias, rather than rational investing by VCs. Holmes was blessed with this Teflon, and putting the Stanford logo on her back just elevated her untouchable firm.
in the old days, the entrepreneur could not get the next round(s) of funding without serious validation of customers and technology. somewhere along the line we got mega-investments going into these firms at pre-revenue stage to help them "scale". the belief is that you have to grow to "scale" to learn if you have a success - pure BS. Much of the time there was very little market or technology validation in these companies = aka "Unicorns". if the conventional investment community criticizes these firms they are told "you dont understand" or "that is the way innovation happens". this leads to situations like Theranos where you get way down the line burning major amounts of cash (and sometimes govt funding used to help). Those of you living in CA will remember the Solyndra debacle. you could have flushed the viability of that technology without hiring thousands of people, building a large scale factory in a high cost area and pretending that you had a real company.
more of these are coming, as we have not learned the lessons from the past, and nobody wants to "miss the next big thing". pure BS.
Mostly agree...we are in the second ".com" bust. I know lots of companies that took, say, $70m in investment capital when they have no hope of making a $200m return. These VCs typically want to get in, double to triple their money, and get out in 18 months to account for the 19 other companies that go bust. Either way, not a comfortable position to be in when the VC come calling for their returns.
But the issue with Theranos was the blatant lying that went on with little to no oversight. I am sure they trotted out their star investors to make everyone feel comfortable. Then, with Bois leading the charge, bullied all former employees into keeping their mouths shut regarding what was going on. There is, in the HBO show, an interesting comment made about the "carpet class" (the executives) versus the "tile class" (the labs where the work got done).
Regardless, I agree....there will be a lot of VC money lost over the next several years.
It sounds like the chapter may not be over for this young man. Looks like he has someone in his corner to push him through this. I think we've all had moments where we broke down one way or another. Doesn't mean that we quit. It just means that we struggled for a moment. Hopefully what Mark Cuban said, will motivate him.
I think the chapter is over. He overvalues his work.
Cuban saw right through it.
LdN
The difference between Theranos and other Silicon Valley unicorn technology is medical product involved in medical diagnosis of actual humans versus a new form or web router or faster algorithm. When they went live with actual patient testing a whole different set of over sight and regulations came into play. I believe (know) there is a whole lot of similar over selling and frank con gaming in Silicon Valley around all manner tech, but as long as it isn't health care no one really catches it. "Oh we have a new novel algorithm to route you calls and web traffic blah blah blah...."
great point. there is a real difference when you need to put up a real physical device that is going to have scrutiny - especially around regulatory areas like medical devices. The SV model around SW pushes things out fast - not really demonstrated and get market presence. The Solyndra bust was similar bust to Theranos, and the people on the concrete floor side knew it was not going to work. it is interesting that the healthcare industry software (i.e. electronic medical records systems, lab systems, radiology, etc) are NOT built by SV companies. If you visit EPIC in Wisconsin a very leading edge firm in EMRs, they are very disciplined and careful to release working product. the regulated environment forces them to be near perfect at release.
This scam had all the elements of greed and sleaze involved. Elderly ex-politicians ( Kissinger and Clinton) ) and political power brokers (Geo. Schultz), big money backers, skillful sociopath con artists and, last, but not least, high price attorneys (David Boises) who used threats and multiple legal maneuvers to quiet any critics. This included whistle blowers inside Theranos and the reporters who finally exposed this massive fraud This nut job had it all going on. Sadly, at one point George Schultz actually threw his grandson under the bus when the grandson was being attacked by Theranos and Boies.
I think I heard recently that Elizabeth Holmes is currently attempting to gather new investors for another Silicon Valley start-up. She needs to be convicted and sent away for a long time.
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