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Theranos adds qualified medical experts and scientists to advisory board
- ceejayoz 11y agoWell, it's a step up from Henry Kissinger and Bill Frist, but it mainly still just proves they've got good connections. Doesn't say much about the tech.
- aaronbrethorst 11y agoThis is just their medical and science advisory board, not their board of directors. Frist and Kissinger (ugh) are still on the BoD.
- toufka 11y agoIt's also not really a science advisory board and more of a medical/clinical board. This would be great for making sure the tech is working in the hands of its clients, but that seems to me to be putting the cart before the horse maybe. Is not the tech itself something that needs advising? Maybe not - maybe the tech is so basic, not particularly novel, or so well completed that there is no further technology push to be made. Or maybe these people are actually really capable with respect to basic research in addition to their medical focus - hard to tell without more detailed biographies.
- Bud 11y agoSays nothing at all about the tech.
- prdonahue 11y agoProbably should have done this, before, you know, (fraudulently?) claiming they had this amazing breakthrough.
- bgribble 11y agoAt this point, I think the burden of proof is on Theranos to demonstrate that they weren't designed from the beginning to be a scam, initially aimed at the military but now just looking for any way to survive as a company.
- nostrademons 11y agoI doubt they were designed from the beginning to be a scam. I do suspect they've been "looking for any way to survive as a company" since about 2006, and some of those ways include various scams. Most folks, when faced with the reality that their original idea won't work and they don't have any idea how to make it work, fold up the company and go back to school or get a job. Some raise $800M, stack the board of directors with politicians and generals, and try to sell to the military.
- ubercore 11y agoI suspect this runs afoul of HN etiquette, but I had to comment on how amazing your ending paragraph was. Well done.
- nxzero 11y agoMost startups don't end up reaching profitability based on their orginal idea, instead, they change paths, then later reach success or failure.
- BinaryIdiot 11y ago> Some raise $800M, stack the board of directors with politicians and generals, and try to sell to the military. Apply HN here I come...
- disposeofnick9 11y agoYup. "Think and grow rich" requires creative imagination and some experience to pivot into whatever has a better chance to become profitable, rather than just throw away value and opportunity. Even if folks really do want to get out, sell it to another shop, don't just put dynamite under or walk away.
- zaidf 11y agoWho writes these articles? This is their Scientific board. "The board" almost always implies the company's corporate board which among other things can fire the CEO. Advisory boards just offer advice.
- nxzero 11y ago>> "scientific and medical advisory board"
- WalterSear 11y ago> "Theranos adds a bunch of qualified medical experts and scientists to >the board<"
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- bbgm 11y agoI am almost certain Theranos has always had an SAB (I don't know of a single company in this space that doesn't). Even my tiny startup 16 years ago had one. I've served on a couple myself and the role is very different. I do wonder how involved the SAB has been given all the questions. Edit: looking at the page I am now uncertain they had one, which would be very unusual for a life sciences company.
- nxzero 11y agoIn regards to if they already had the SAB - pretty sure before this there was no scientific and medical advisory board, otherwise, why would they be adding so many members to it at once; meaning if that's the case, seems really, really fishy.
- dang 11y agoThanks. We put "advisory board" in the title above.
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- danso 11y agoWhat a shame for this to happen so late in the game. I don't know enough about medicine or medical engineering to know if Theranos' core goal is reasonably attainable...but having medical practitioners experienced in research and regulations would seem to have almost certainly prevented the shitshow that Theranos now has to dig itself out of...and their knowledge and experience of how much you can or can't fuck with regulators is probably something that Henry Kissinger, despite all of his authority and fame, does not have as much practical guidance on.
- WalterSear 11y agoIt's not even their actual board. This is more shenaniganry. It's all they know.
- cpeterso 11y agoAnd how many medical and lab experts were on Theranos's scientific and medical advisory board before they added these eight? The following press release only mentions two other members (one of whom is the CEO). It also uses the future tense to say "Theranos’ Scientific and Medical Advisory Board will meet quarterly." http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160407006056/en/Theranos-Announces-Leading-Medical-Laboratory-Experts-Join http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160407006056/en/Ther...
- nxzero 11y agoPretty sure before this there was no scientific and medical advisory board, otherwise, why would they be adding so many members to it at once; meaning if that's the case, seems really, really fishy.
- WalterSear 11y agoThis company is already Andrea Rossi sketchy. Is is appropriate to flag stories about Theranos? I doesn't seem appropriate to let them have an unfettered voice.
- paulpauper 11y agoI wonder what Theranos is worth now?
- umanwizard 11y agoWild guess: negative money
- disposeofnick9 11y agoTheranos had their shot... Walgreens pulled all their in-store advertising.
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