Theranos Lays Off Most of Its Remaining Workforce

[Balgair]

Often, we look at the negative in what Ms. Holmes wrought (rightfully so).

Instead, for a sec, look at one positive point in what Tyler Shultz brought forth through his heroic actions against Theranos[0]. His story showed us what SV is and what it can be. Though never guaranteed, he has a happy ending as he recently launched Flux Biosciences in 2017[1].

Remember: Be like Tyler Shultz.

[0]https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/11/explosive-new-detail...

[1]https://www.forbes.com/sites/elliekincaid/2017/10/03/after-b...

[cft]

I would love to be like Tyler Shultz but my grandfather is not George Shultz...

[alecco]

I still can't believe how Elizabeth Holmes got away with just a slap in the wrist. Is it because the board was full of connected people? Or because it's a successful woman CEO story? Either way, it's a disgrace. Sociopaths will pick this signal as a boost of confidence.

[fragsworth]

No question this Theranos situation would have inspired a whole new wave of startup con artistry, but I think all those people are currently peddling shitcoins.

When the shitcoin bubble completely falls apart (a process which it may be going through right now), we might see a bunch of Theranoses popping up.

[aphextron]

It absolutely blows my mind how she avoided jail time over this. If I had called someone on the phone and scammed their credit card for $1,000, I'd be looking at 3-5 years in Federal prison. There truly are zero consequences in life beyond a certain level of net worth.

[ABeeSea]

The DoJ can still bring charges. Settling with the SEC doesn’t shield her from legal action.

[blhack]

Does anybody have a guess as to how many people died as a result of this scam?

(And is it an episode of black mirror that I'm even on this train of thought?)

[cortesoft]

It is because the punishment for this sort of thing is ALWAYS a slap on the wrist.

[rm999]

>Is it because the board was full of connected people?

The board was scammed by her and lost billions of potential dollars, so that's probably not why. If anything, I wonder the opposite, why the connected people didn't do more; I'm guessing it's because destroying her further isn't worth their time?

[rpmcmurphy]

But she wears a black turtleneck, just like Steve Jobs.

[txsh]

Anything less than life in prison is a miscarriage of justice. She’s a murderer.

[Bud]

Wait. They still had a workforce? What the heck are they working on? How are they still extant? The entire operation was revealed to be a world-historical fraud! How is this company still in operation on any level? I don't get it.

[uniformlyrandom]

AFAIR, they have switched focus to some other bullshit idea called miniLab:

> “We will return our undivided attention to our miniLab platform,” writes Holmes of the new device she unveiled in early August at the American Association for Clinical Chemistry’s convention in Philadelphia. She added that “our ultimate goal is to commercialize miniaturized, automated laboratories capable of small-volume sample testing, with an emphasis on vulnerable patient populations, including oncology, pediatrics, and intensive care.”

http://fortune.com/2016/10/05/theranos-shuts-down-clinics/

[username223]

Someone needs to auction off the remaining office furniture and lab equipment, and renegotiate the lease. If they had thousands of employees at their peak, a couple of dozen seems reasonable.

[oh_sigh]

Are any patents they hold licensable? Just because they committed fraud and couldn't get their product to actually work doesn't mean the patents are worthless.

[Florin_Andrei]

This is the end of the end for Theranos.

[vkou]

They were doing fake it till you make it[1] - deceiving investors and their customers, while making a hail Mary R&D play at trying to make their technology work.

[1] Just to be clear, 'fake it till you make it' does not require deception. If you're up front about what you're doing with the people paying you, and are following the law, there is nothing wrong with doing things that don't scale.

[tnolet]

Theranos is by far the most explicit example of "fake it till you make it" I've seen. Maybe that motto should be shelved in the future.

[Alex3917]

The idea of "faking it till you make it" is about projecting the self-confidence of someone whose already successful. I've never heard anyone use this phrase as a justification for providing materially false statements to investors or whatever.

[peaseagee]

"Fake it till you make it" seems to work OK for personal development. Not at all as a business plan!

[untog]

That would be good. At a bare minimum, let's shelve it from healthcare related endeavors.

[paulie_a]

Yes fraudulent behavior should be shelved. And "fake it until you make it" is just a nicer way of saying fraud

[openmosix]

1-Page.com also had a very similar, although not as well known story. 1-page managed to be a "public startup" without having a product or (real) customers. Very much into the "fake it till you make it". Very fascinating story: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2017/05/18/rise-and-fal...

[jeff6845]

Just like Bernie Madolff did, expect he never made it but to jail. Holmes must had better lawyers.

[deepspace]

| most explicit example of "fake it till you make it"

cough Ubeam cough

[api]

I have never seen "fake it till you make it" or it's close relative "stone soup" actually work long term.

[thrownaway954]

there is a difference between "fake it till you make it" or blatant fraud.

[grizzles]

They just raised $100M from Fortress Capital backed by their patent portfolio. If I had to guess this money is probably coming from a subset of their existing stuck investors banding together in a magical thinking exercise to win back. A good lesson in human frailties. It's hard to watch something you had that you thought was worth billions go to zero. They might as well have funded a whole new company.

[bllguo]

unbelievable. After seeing this, can anyone doubt that luck is a major factor in success? These investors won't even take the time to do the most basic due diligence. They have no business managing millions of dollars.

[sseveran]

That could be true, but I suspect not. Fortress does have a reasonable sized distressed business which include both debt and credit. Also the loan Fortress gave them was contingent on certain milestones being met, so its not like they just wired the $100M. It's a good bet that the milestones are not being met. It's also unlikely that Fortress's distressed business is likely to fund a growing startup. They are specifically looking for assets that look bad but they can find value in.

[dandare]

Now take a minute to think about the actual employees. Most of them did nothing wrong. Many relocated of left their previous jobs, their carriers are disturbed, their CVs tainted.

[jbob2000]

You'd have to be pretty stubborn to remain at this company after all of the bad news it's been getting lately. The writing was on the wall like a year ago that this ship was sinking, why would anyone stay?

[kevan]

I'm sure there's people that would take a few months of free paychecks while they work on side projects or just take a break from the grind.

Also, chaos is a ladder. There's probably a huge vacuum of leadership within the company. That's an opportunity for lower-level employees to take on more responsibilities than they'd be given at a normal company. If staying for another few months gives you a good resume project then it might be worth it, even if that project is literally helping shut down the company.

[notjtrig]

Probably good food and no responsibilities, plus you can have all the copper wire you can pull from the building.

[atonse]

You’d have zero work to do and get paid. Some probably would start a side business.

[k1lly]

Again, what did you expect?

https://medium.com/multiple-personalities-order/how-to-be-th...

[Simulacra]

Where does Elizabeth Holmes go from here? Does she have a future somewhere else, or is this something that will be hard to come back from? I don't see her as someone who would willingly work for others. Thoughts?

[MrMember]

Write a book, maybe? You'd have to be insane to hire her or invest in anything she does in the future.

[twic]

She could go back and finish her degree.

[pg_bot]

I actually found it incredible that they had 125 people still working for them. Why would anyone continue to spend their time working for such a disreputable company?

[ThrustVectoring]

Rent is due and you have no better options.

[walshemj]

well if they are still paying you it helps keep the rent paid whist you look for a new job

[neurotech1]

Non-Paywall: http://archive.is/xtXYU

[wintorez]

This article aged so well: http://time.com/3822734/elizabeth-holmes-2015-time-100/

[1001101]

"Others will judge the technical aspects of Theranos, but the social implications are vast."

Indeed.

[adamsea]

Ahh, hahahaha. And it’s by Henry Kissinger.

[the_cat_kittles]

i take enormous pleasure in this, its great to see a fraud go down, simple as that

[khhh35575544]

Arguably a step forward for feminism also