03-22-2021, 02:38 PM
(03-22-2021, 01:09 PM)paloalto Wrote: I've read a lot about Theranos. I felt Elizabeth Holmes started out with honest intentions to make the world a better place. When she didn't get the hoped-for results she started fudging data; then got drawn deeper and deeper into a dark web.
At some point she fully turned over to the dark side and became a criminal with no regard for her product's impact on human lives. A Stanford kid with fantastic potential who took the wrong turn in life.
Sounds a lot like what happened in uBiome. I remember these guys because I was at UCSF when the company was getting off the ground, and I don't think they set out to defraud anyone. It was a legit kickstarter citizen-science program whose goal was really to try to learn about the microbiome.
But I think there is a relentless pressure in the Valley to monetize and scale, but not all ideas need to lead to unicorns with billion-dollar valuations, and these guys failed to recognize it.
Also, the fear of failure runs strong.
None of this justifies fraud.
BC