[danso]

The origin story of Theranos is carved from pure Silicon Valley mythril: 19-year-old drops out of Stanford to build a massively disruptive startup and in short-order, receives hundreds of millions in funding and near-decaunicorn valuation. On top of that, the founder is a photogenic woman who dresses and speaks and acts as if she were Steve Jobs incarnate. And unlike Facebook and most other tech startups, Theranos was outright in its mission about achieving a meaningful and life-saving benefit for all of humanity.

In the current debacle, you again have all the classic ingredients in force: pride goeth before a fall, the extreme secrecy, the aristocracy > meritocracy, venture capitalists all wearing the VC equivalent of beer-goggles, the ignorance and laziness of tech media exposed. You even have a co-inventor who committed suicide and, for no obvious reason, Henry Kissinger is just hanging out.

The fact that Theranos aimed so high in its disruptive mission has come to bite it a bit...it's one thing to butt heads against government regulations when just making it easier for people to catch a ride or sleep on a couch. A lot different when you're allegedly subverting regulations explicitly constructed around human health.

Basically, there's popcorn for everyone.

[SilasX]

>You even have a co-inventor who committed suicide

I had to look this up -- I guess you're referring to Ian Gibbons?

>>In 2005, Ms. Holmes hired Ian Gibbons, a British biochemist who had researched systems to handle and process tiny quantities of fluids. His collaboration with other Theranos scientists produced 23 patents, according to records filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Ms. Holmes is listed as a co-inventor on 19 of the patents.

>>The patents show how Ms. Holmes’s original idea morphed into the company’s business model. But progress was slow. Dr. Gibbons “told me nothing was working,” says his widow, Rochelle.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/theranos-has-struggled-with-bloo...

[chillwaves]

This is the most legendary synopsis of our times. Seriously, the use of mythril? Brilliant and the rest is so on point. It's hard to believe this whole thing is real. I feel like we are living in a sitcom.

[anon8418]

Lots of similar stories... Check out UBeam. It's basically Theranos-lite: outspoken female founder (also light on the technical credentials), revolutionary vision/product-promises (wireless charging), and tier one VCs (~$30mm raised from a16z, Marissa Mayer, Mark Cuban, etc).

Like Theranos, the story is coming apart at the seams... I haven't seen this discussed here but UBeam is quietly raising another round via some Israeli equity crowdfunding site. Crazy!!! This after raising Series A from a16z!

Will be interesting to see how many of these unicorn type startups are around this time next year.

[codezero]

What does this have to do with the photogenicness of the founder? What exactly did Theranos do wrong here as a company? How does she dress? It didn't even seem like a favor. Does she wear black turtlenecks and jeans? I'm really confused about your comment. Does it address what I asked at all? Can you elaborate?

[danso]

Yes, she wore black turtlenecks...according to reports, every day since the company was started. Why does being photogenic matter? Because you're more likely to have a massive photo spread/cover devoted to you. Steve Jobs himself was very photogenic. But Theranos is much more affected by Holmes as the face of the company. Because the company never talked about its tech in detail, there wasn't much else to focus on except the youth and passion of its founder.

[Nutmog]

Those were reasons why the media and public are interested in it. Yes she does wear black turtlenecks. I'm sure the way she dresses is part of why people are so interested in the stories. It's probably largely schadenfreude, the kind the celebrities are usually subject to when they put on weight or get arrested.

[joezydeco]

I don't agree that this is schadenfreude.

Here was a company that popped up, literally out of nowhere, claiming to have a handle on microfluidic diagnostic assays...something that the major players in the industry haven't been able to get off the ground since ELISA came along in the 1960s.

The skeptics were quiet at first. I mean shit, they landed Walgreen's and Kroeger! It must work, right?

Now we discover a little more of the truth and it's a lot safer to say "put up or shut up".

[kzhahou]

It's absolutely schadenfreude! Company appears to have led VCs, investors, and the public, and is actually getting called out for it. Lots of people (myself included) thought the whole thing smelled funny a while back.