Theranos: The Company that Fooled Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
When we think of successful innovative tech companies we immediately think of Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley is the home of raging new technology that is destined to help advanced humanity right. We all know, love, and trust the products that come from Silicon Valley because everybody there knows what they are talking about right? Well not always, In 2003 an emerging health and tech company called Theranos broke the cycle.
The Unfortunate Story of Theranos
Theranos is a biotech company founded by Elizabeth Holmes, a Stanford dropout, and was made to revolutionize the way we approach blood testing. Her idea was to make a machine called the ‘Edison” that would only need a micro-dose of blood the figure out what diseases you had. Now, this idea wowed everybody. High authority figures like Draper Fisher Jurvetson described her as a hero.
“… this woman who is trying to do so much for health care. … She should be hailed as a hero…”- Drapper Fisher Jurverston (Venture capitalist)
Everybody was positive that Elizbeth Holmes was going to be the face of diagnostic medicine and change the world. Ironically, so did she but there was a missing piece of the puzzle.
The Results
While this idea was greatly planned and exciting the actual results of the idea fall short. To give some context about the machine, it was supposed to be your very own on-the-go chemist. The machine would take in the micro-dose of blood, dilute it, include the necessary antibodies, and the interface would spit out the results of whatever disease you “had” that could be traced back to your blood cells. This was the plan she would tell everybody and honestly try to work at every day. In reality, the machine just didn't work. Every time they would try to run it the tubes would break, the machinery would malfunction, and even sometimes the code wouldn't read correctly. The worst part is, the machine would give the wrong diagnosis and still made it to CVS stores. So many families at home trying this machine out were probably worried sick about a disease they never had. This machine was unrealistic and she wasn't willing to expect that, knowing that this could really endanger the well-being of millions of people. Elizbeth Holmes counted too much on the idea and not enough on the execution of her product.
How Did She Manage to Not get Canceled?
While Elizebeth wasn't able to figure out how to get the “Edison” to work she was actually a very smart woman, more manipulative but still intelligent. Once she noticed people starting to ask questions and her employees losing faith she made her company a “private company”. In legal terms, this means that she is not obligated to share any part of her company with anyone. This includes things like stocks, plans, funding, and other establishments of the company. This “private” title worked out great for her because this also included her employees. Under strict laws, they also weren't allowed to discuss anything with anybody or could risk being sued for millions of dollars. She had everybody on a tight leash and created a very fearful, toxic environment for her workers. Another major factor in this was nobody could check her. Her funding and sponsorships came from very powerful people but they didn't know anything about biotech. So naturally, why would they suspect that the machine didn't work, the idea sounded fantastic and innovative. On the flip side, the people who did know what they were talking about could not say anything because of their legal agreements with the company. Elizabeth Holmes had everyone right where she wanted them for quite a long time.
Justice for One, Justice for All! Well not Exactly…
So where is Elizabeth now, is she facing time in prison for all the things she lied about? All the people she put in danger? No, unfortunately, she is still wondering the world happily married, but her trial is pending for 2021. Fortunately, all thanks to the FDA she was caught in her tracks and is going to be tried for felony fraud. Later, after over 10 years of conning people, she tried her luck with the FDA to try to get her faulty machine into stores. They saw right through the gimmicks and cut her off. Finally, someone had to! After this encounter with the FDA, her sponsors got suspicious and demanded answers. Soon enough her lies came into the light. Now she has to battle it out in court and hopefully, justice will be served.
