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From what I have read, she spent like a decade "building" this company before making any effort to release a product. She dropped out of Stanford and has been h
by Mz 10y ago
From what I have read, she spent like a decade "building" this company before making any effort to release a product. She dropped out of Stanford and has been hailed as a genius while failing to launch and when she did finally launch, this is the result.
Meanwhile, she has apparently been backed for a very, very long time by such luminaries as Henry Kissinger and former US senator and presidential candidate Sam Nunn: https://www.theranos.com/leadership/counselors https://www.theranos.com/leadership/counselors
So, some pretty girl had former serious VIPs on the world stage patting her on the head and saying "You go, girl!" while she had no product. And we wonder why it became such a huge mess. She was like 19 or 20 when she dreamed this up. I don't know how long she has had their backing, but that is heady stuff for almost anyone, of any age. If she had it in her early twenties, good luck reigning in her insane ego and getting her to see reality.
Her reality is that she can get the backing of people like that. Many people are very "la la la, not listening -- don't confuse me with the facts, my mind is made up." If they can get social proof that they are awesome, it gets far, far worse. And being backed by people like that is very strong social proof.
So, in my opinion, they had an obligation to also put the brakes on and demand real proof while patting her on the head and fueling the growth of her enormous ego. Is it any wonder she has such an enormous ego given those experiences?
- ethanbond 10y agoCompanies fail and egos get inflated all the time. I'm not sure what substantiates her being an attractive woman as the salient point, especially when the attractiveness advantage (and resulting gigantic egos) exists for both sexes.
- Mz 10y agoGive me a list of companies headed by attractive young men that have been hailed as Decacorns (worth $10 billion) while producing zero products for an entire decade and being lauded in big name publications for years which are now also going down in flames that rival the burning of Rome. Given that only 17% (or less) of CEO's are women, you should have zero problem coming up with at least five such names off the top of your head if there is no gender bias involved in this situation. Oh, let's make it easier: List me 5 or more unicorns ($1 billion valuation) headed by a guy going down in horrendous flames and all over the media. The men don't have to be particularly good looking or charming either.
- quickben 10y agoBut in this case, it wasn't about tweeting if one's plant need watering. These were medical products, and people, usually the crowd that needs them, were making big life decisions based on the results. The gender of the founder isn't as relevant as the size of the sh* hitting the fan when things go wrong.
- petra 10y agoYou're probably right. But ideally, why should someone like Kissinger, who isn't a science guy would be strong social proof in this context, instead of the scientific community, or scientific advisors with expertise in diagnostics ?
- Mz 10y agoSocial proof and scientific proof work completely differently. If this had been driven by science, it wouldn't be the mess it is.