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I suspect the recent Elizabeth Holmes conviction of investor fraud at Theranos might contribute to the idea of flashy names propping up an unsustainable idea (e
by openknot 5y ago
I suspect the recent Elizabeth Holmes conviction of investor fraud at Theranos might contribute to the idea of flashy names propping up an unsustainable idea (e.g. with so many high-ranking names in the US military establishment previously supporting the company).
I'm not aware of other recent high-profile examples, though I would be interested in learning about them.
- whatshisface 5y agoEvery high-profile failure of the last century fits the bill, because bad business teams cannot get invested in, by definition, without looking good. Good business teams tend to be good in the details, which leads to them struggling to find willing audiences.
- moralestapia 5y agoAdam Neumann/WeWork, Doug Evans/Juicero; there's plenty of 'em. A few more for real scam connoisseur's: Stacy Spikes/MoviePass (70M+ for selling dollars at a penny; outstanding growth and metrics though, if only the "lose on every sale but make it up in volume" stance ever worked ¯\_(ツ)_/¯) Steve Newcomb/famo.us (30M+ seed funding for what was essentially a shitty JS library) Bill Nguyen/Color (40m+ seed funding for a photo app with no extra features; you know, like the one that comes for free in your phone ..., but with ads, ... also a social network? no one really knew, not even them)