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Theranos' Death Rattle

TwiceHorn

By TwiceHorn
in Business and Markets

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OneOfTheOutOfFocusGuys
OneOfTheOutOfFocusGuys

I hope the foreperson announced the verdict in an obviously fake deep voice. 

HenryJames
HenryJames
Dontshootrude
Dontshootrude

I'm listening to this podcast right now and I read the book.  Given this is how I make a living it is really hitting home to me.   CSB warning: Around 2014 Theranos sent a couple of representativ

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MillerEP

MillerEP 30232

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Okay, I caught a little bit more of the documentary on HBO tonight. I have a ridiculous question, that who is the freak with the accent that appears to be wearing 1/2 of a beard? As in beard on one side with mustache and nothing on the other.

 

Theranos' Death Rattle

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?share_fid=2053247&share_tid=1365&share_pid=1134994&url=https://www.surlyhorns.com/board/index.php?/topic/1365-Theranos%27-Death-Rattle/page__view__findpost__p__1134994&share_type=t

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SHOOTER12

SHOOTER12 8766

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9 minutes ago, MillerEP said:

 

Theranos' Death Rattle

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?share_fid=2053247&share_tid=1365&share_pid=1134994&url=https://www.surlyhorns.com/board/index.php?/topic/1365-Theranos%27-Death-Rattle/page__view__findpost__p__1134994&share_type=t

So, I'll repeat the question, the link only takes me to the first post of the main thread which I don't want to read the entire thing. Thanks anyway

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NBMisha

NBMisha 224

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Watched the HBO documentary yesterday.  Very interesting display of human fallibilities.  

It is obvious to normal people that she is nuts.  But to those deep into the cult of uber leadership (and not a little bit of wierd old guy shit), and ultimately star worship, it is just so easy to fall for.  As the half beard psychologist says, if you convince yourself you are doing good, you can roll with any delusional lie.

Well, not so far from standard corp bs.  Believing your own bullshit.  Hope she spends a few years in the clink.  Orange turtleneck.

 

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DigglerontheHoof

DigglerontheHoof 20450

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19 hours ago, Aqua Buddha said:

Also, her solution of cheap and easy blood tests was for a problem that is not that big of a problem.  Traditional blood tests aren't that expensive or hard to do.  (God knows there are labs everywhere.)  Only hurdle is that some people don't like needles but that's not that big of a hurdle.  It's basically a solution to something that's not a problem.

This was my thought, as well,  I didn't get why this was such a "disruptive" technology to begin with but, I'm not that smart...especially when it comes to medicine. 

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GhostOfTomJoad

GhostOfTomJoad 9096

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The HBO doc was well done. The director did a nice job peeling back the curtain of Thomas Edison's myth while showing Holmes' naked desire to be recognized as a visionary, human-kind altering entrepreneur. It also shows how careless investors & VCs can be. Data and clean financials are cast aside for compelling stories & powerful marketing. People are so enticed by the possibility of making billions off the next big thing they don't stop to ask if what they're investing in is actually feasible.

I guess we're lucky Holmes decided she wanted to be the next Steve Jobs instead of Charles Manson. 

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52-80

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7 hours ago, Texas_Rocks said:

 


Few things in life annoy me more than corporate meetings that go down like this. I was sitting in my office one day when an event organizer walks in and request that I join three other people to do a karaoke version of The Love Shack during an upcoming meet. Nope.

 

 

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Reagan1k

Reagan1k 2999

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1 hour ago, GhostOfTomJoad said:

I guess we're lucky Holmes decided she wanted to be the next Steve Jobs instead of Charles Manson. 

Exactly - It was the perfect storm.  Psychopath with the perfect amount of access to both the elite educational complex and people of influence/money who'd listen to her story........

A clone of her who ends up in a community college and working nights as a Hooters waitress would also end up wreaking havoc somewhere in the world, but the story would spill out in People Magazine vs. the WSJ.

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Not a cat

Not a cat 5596

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Boies should be getting a lot more grief than he is.  There is a line between zealous advocacy and helping to assist further fraud, and I think he passed it.  Sadly, I bet some people will want him even more as their attorney since he showed what he was willing to do, but it's not like he wasn't already in demand.  

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TwiceHorn

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1 hour ago, Not a cat said:

Boies should be getting a lot more grief than he is.  There is a line between zealous advocacy and helping to assist further fraud, and I think he passed it.  Sadly, I bet some people will want him even more as their attorney since he showed what he was willing to do, but it's not like he wasn't already in demand.  

Very much agreed.  But he's a "bulldog!"/Rolling my eyes

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TwiceHorn

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3 hours ago, DigglerontheHoof said:

This was my thought, as well,  I didn't get why this was such a "disruptive" technology to begin with but, I'm not that smart...especially when it comes to medicine. 

Thirded.  I was always kind of suspicious of the need for on-demand testing.  Nothing presented by Theranos/Holmes changed my mind.

I think sometimes diagnostics are an unnecessary profit center for docs, but they are less problematic than, say, imaging, in that regard.

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Macanudo

Macanudo 12649

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1 hour ago, Reagan1k said:

A clone of her who ends up in a community college and working nights as a Hooters waitress would also end up wreaking havoc somewhere in the world, but the story would spill out in People Magazine vs. the WSJ.

That doesn't even make People Magazine.   Her story plays out buried in the Des Moines newspaper after her 3 kids under age 5 are found wandering around a Wal-Mart parking lot at 3:00 am because she's at an Indian Casino in Sioux Falls strung out on meth.  

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52-80

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2 hours ago, Reagan1k said:

Exactly - It was the perfect storm.  Psychopath with the perfect amount of access to both the elite educational complex and people of influence/money who'd listen to her story........

A clone of her who ends up in a community college and working nights as a Hooters waitress would also end up wreaking havoc somewhere in the world, but the story would spill out in People Magazine vs. the WSJ.

it would've reached $18B if she was actually hot

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RollLeft

RollLeft 5038

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Posted

So she grows up here in Houston, went to St. John's and not one of you Surly posters know her or banged one of her friends?  Not buying it.  Spill it.

Allen Stanford, Kenny Lay and Lizzy.   You got to lick one(rear), blow one or F one, Go!    

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SwanderedTalent

SwanderedTalent 5761

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2 hours ago, Not a cat said:

Boies should be getting a lot more grief than he is.  There is a line between zealous advocacy and helping to assist further fraud, and I think he passed it. 

well, but, he owned stock, lots and lots of stock in the company

so I mean it's understandable you know and everything

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52-80

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4 hours ago, DigglerontheHoof said:

This was my thought, as well,  I didn't get why this was such a "disruptive" technology to begin with but, I'm not that smart...especially when it comes to medicine. 

I had my a standard suite of blood test done a while ago.  Had to schedule an appointment with my doc.  Had to go to his office.  Took a big vial of blood.  A few days (imagine a full calendar week if you're busy with work), I visit the doc to get the results.  It measured something like 20-40 different things , iron level, potassium, etc etc.

 

Imagine if I could drive to any pharmacy anytime, buy a kit to prick myself, and instantly get results of 400 measurements back... or atleast maybe wait 1 or 2 days and get this full suite of readings by email.  That's a huge hurdle bowled over.  People would be more inclined to check their health more often

 

 

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NeverMarryAStripper

NeverMarryAStripper 21765

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6 minutes ago, RollLeft said:

So she grows up here in Houston, went to St. John's and not one of you Surly posters know her or banged one of her friends?  Not buying it.  Spill it.

Allen Stanford, Kenny Lay and Lizzy.   You got to lick one(rear), blow one or F one, Go!    

My oldest son graduated from St. John's and it looks like he was either 1 or 2 classes ahead of her.

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Auto Driller

Auto Driller 2502

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4 minutes ago, 52-80 said:

I had my a standard suite of blood test done a while ago.  Had to schedule an appointment with my doc.  Had to go to his office.  Took a big vial of blood.  A few days (imagine a full calendar week if you're busy with work), I visit the doc to get the results.  It measured something like 20-40 different things , iron level, potassium, etc etc.

 

Imagine if I could drive to any pharmacy anytime, buy a kit to prick myself, and instantly get results of 400 measurements back... or atleast maybe wait 1 or 2 days and get this full suite of readings by email.  That's a huge hurdle bowled over.  People would be more inclined to check their health more often

 

 

This sounds like a great idea.

Have you lined up any investors yet?

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RollLeft

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2 minutes ago, Sbbruin said:

I get blood tests 4 times per year through Quest for an auto-immune condition, and the standard method of blood drawing is quite a simple process.  So this whole thing is to avoid the terror of a needle?

So you have the Aids?

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MrBig

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How can anyone hear this quote and not think it’s bullshit? This is the type of thing kids say when they are trying to do a book report but didn’t read the book.

She told The New Yorker that "a chemistry is performed so that a chemical reaction occurs and generates a signal from the chemical interaction with the sample, which is translated into a result, which is then reviewed by certified laboratory personnel."

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DigglerontheHoof

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19 minutes ago, 52-80 said:

I had my a standard suite of blood test done a while ago.  Had to schedule an appointment with my doc.  Had to go to his office.  Took a big vial of blood.  A few days (imagine a full calendar week if you're busy with work), I visit the doc to get the results.  It measured something like 20-40 different things , iron level, potassium, etc etc.

 

Imagine if I could drive to any pharmacy anytime, buy a kit to prick myself, and instantly get results of 400 measurements back... or atleast maybe wait 1 or 2 days and get this full suite of readings by email.  That's a huge hurdle bowled over.  People would be more inclined to check their health more often

 

 

How would you know how to read them?  I get blood drawn quite regularly, too.  I always have the doc walk me through them. 

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Kyle

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2 hours ago, Not a cat said:

Boies should be getting a lot more grief than he is.  There is a line between zealous advocacy and helping to assist further fraud, and I think he passed it.  Sadly, I bet some people will want him even more as their attorney since he showed what he was willing to do, but it's not like he wasn't already in demand.  

Agreed, but he was connected in all the right ways to the Establishment. It was not until it flipped #metoo that he finally got busted for representing Harvey Weinstein.

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Pato del Muerto

Pato del Muerto 51914

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13 minutes ago, MrBig said:

How can anyone hear this quote and not think it’s bullshit? This is the type of thing kids say when they are trying to do a book report but didn’t read the book.

She told The New Yorker that "a chemistry is performed so that a chemical reaction occurs and generates a signal from the chemical interaction with the sample, which is translated into a result, which is then reviewed by certified laboratory personnel."

And this woman talked her way into and apparently passed a couple of chemE classes at Stanford as a freshman?

theres a difference between dumbing down  for lay people and bullshitting.  

 

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GhostOfTomJoad

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5 hours ago, DigglerontheHoof said:

This was my thought, as well,  I didn't get why this was such a "disruptive" technology to begin with but, I'm not that smart...especially when it comes to medicine. 

The disruptive tech was the promise of near instant analysis vs days/weeks. They were conning investors with a one hour diagnosis by taking their blood sample then having techs analyze it while they were having lunch. That's big. They didn't specify in the doc (maybe they do in the book?), but it appeared as if fasting prior to testing wasn't a requirement. Also a big change. 

The truly disruptive pitch, however, was the impact to the industry. She & Sunny saw gov't contracts as a goldmine. Hence Mattis, Kissinger, Schultz, etc on the board.  Those old guys got stiff when she sold them on the promise of selling thousands of those machines to the military so they could monitor GIs blood instantly & constantly. And Walgreens putting in theranos stations was a big step. Get your blood analyzed at your corner Walgreens in an hour, have have your scrip adjusted, & pick up your meds all in one stop. Hell, if it worked Walgreens would've been printing money. They'd probably build lunch counters or day spas into their stores so people would stay there & spend money before they bought their meds.

Lots of investors saw ways to make piles of money. Except the science & tech behind it was bunk.

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MillerEP

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So, I'll repeat the question, the link only takes me to the first post of the main thread which I don't want to read the entire thing. Thanks anyway


I linked through tapa, guess it didn’t work. He’s a well known professor who was badly burned over 70 percent of his body as a teen in Israel. His facial hair looks weird because he’s a burn victim:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Ariely
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Nueces River Rat

Nueces River Rat 5485

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1 hour ago, GhostOfTomJoad said:

The disruptive tech was the promise of near instant analysis vs days/weeks. They were conning investors with a one hour diagnosis by taking their blood sample then having techs analyze it while they were having lunch. That's big. They didn't specify in the doc (maybe they do in the book?), but it appeared as if fasting prior to testing wasn't a requirement. Also a big change. 

The truly disruptive pitch, however, was the impact to the industry. She & Sunny saw gov't contracts as a goldmine. Hence Mattis, Kissinger, Schultz, etc on the board.  Those old guys got stiff when she sold them on the promise of selling thousands of those machines to the military so they could monitor GIs blood instantly & constantly. And Walgreens putting in theranos stations was a big step. Get your blood analyzed at your corner Walgreens in an hour, have have your scrip adjusted, & pick up your meds all in one stop. Hell, if it worked Walgreens would've been printing money. They'd probably build lunch counters or day spas into their stores so people would stay there & spend money before they bought their meds.

Lots of investors saw ways to make piles of money. Except the science & tech behind it was bunk.

Did  you see the cluster fuck of a mess the machine made of the blood samples?   My gosh someone could have been exposed to no telling what and the Lab Techs said so much they were not taking standard  lab precautions when they were reaching into those machines.

 

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Chewbacca

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2 hours ago, DigglerontheHoof said:

How would you know how to read them?  I get blood drawn quite regularly, too.  I always have the doc walk me through them. 

The results page tells you how to read them.  It shows you what the normal range is and whether your test is inside that or not.

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SHOOTER12

SHOOTER12 8766

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2 hours ago, MillerEP said:

 


I linked through tapa, guess it didn’t work. He’s a well known professor who was badly burned over 70 percent of his body as a teen in Israel. His facial hair looks weird because he’s a burn victim:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Ariely

 

Thanks,  I finally saw part of the documentary that gave his name. Definitely should ditch the half beard look.

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52-80

52-80 18963

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3 hours ago, DigglerontheHoof said:

How would you know how to read them?  I get blood drawn quite regularly, too.  I always have the doc walk me through them. 

It's like a suspension alignment chart.  My (traditional) results are shown next to a range, so any another anomalous values could be flagged.  My doc don't offer to explain my 40 or whatever parameters if everything is within range

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Dry Elbows

Dry Elbows 142

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14 hours ago, HenryJames said:

She has apparently worn them since she was five years old. 

In "The Dropout" podcast, one of the first employees she lured away from Apple talks about how she peppered him with questions about Jobs, including his wardrobe.  Next thing he knew, she was showing up in fancy turtlenecks.

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