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Theranos, CEO Holmes, and Former President Balwani Charged with Fraud

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Re: Theranos, CEO Holmes, and Former President Balwani Charged with Fraud

#141

Post by swyx »

_pmf_ wrote: post #117
SilasX wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>For all those entrepreneurs are trying to "fake it until you make it" be aware that the SEC considers your strategy both fraudulent and they feel they have the jurisdiction to prosecute you. Holmes was, in many ways, embodying that HN mentality, acting on the basis: - that an entire industry has been doing it wrong - that it can be fixed by a low-bureaucracy, Angel-funded startup - that once you have enough success…

She is too intelligent to have believed even half of these things, so I'm going with wilful deception.

what actual evidence do we have of her intelligence apart from starting theranos and doing the original research that led to starting theranos? honest question

Re: Theranos, CEO Holmes, and Former President Balwani Charged with Fraud

#142

Post by Analemma_ »

noodle wrote: post #123
SilasX wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>For all those entrepreneurs are trying to "fake it until you make it" be aware that the SEC considers your strategy both fraudulent and they feel they have the jurisdiction to prosecute you. Holmes was, in many ways, embodying that HN mentality, acting on the basis: - that an entire industry has been doing it wrong - that it can be fixed by a low-bureaucracy, Angel-funded startup - that once you have enough success…

> that HN mentality Is that the HN mentality? It might lean more that way now, I suppose, but I've always felt it was more in the "scratch your own itch" territory and less in the "complete industry outsider disrupts XYZ industry with revolutionary ideas" area

I don't know if there's a single "HN mentality". This site is an ongoing uneasy truce between the entrepreneurs (who have more of the attitude the GP is complaining about) and the developers (who tend to be more cynical about these things and, if they care about startups at all instead of working a 9-to-5, are more likely to have the "scratch your own itch" mentality). There's a lot of back-and-forth between which viewpoint is ascendant in the comments, usually depending on how badly-behaved SV companies have been recently.

Re: Theranos, CEO Holmes, and Former President Balwani Charged with Fraud

#143

Post by John_KZ »

SilasX wrote: post #90
ChuckMcM wrote: post #23

Ok, this is the money line in that press release for me: “The charges against Theranos, Holmes, and Balwani make clear that there is no exemption from the anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws simply because a company is non-public, development-stage, or the subject of exuberant media attention.” For all those entrepreneurs are trying to "fake it until you make it" be aware that the SEC considers your…

>For all those entrepreneurs are trying to "fake it until you make it" be aware that the SEC considers your strategy both fraudulent and they feel they have the jurisdiction to prosecute you. Holmes was, in many ways, embodying that HN mentality, acting on the basis: - that an entire industry has been doing it wrong - that it can be fixed by a low-bureaucracy, Angel-funded startup - that once you have enough success…

- that an entire industry has been doing it wrong

- that it can be fixed by a low-bureaucracy, Angel-funded startup

- that any skill is just a matter of 10,000 hours of practice

Some of these things are correct sometimes. Many industries have been doing things wrong for very long, and massively productive changes disrupted the industry. Who knew that boiling water would change the coal industry forever? Some guy came up with the pump idea and changed everything. The mine owner that invested in him made a lot of money. The industry changed. Things like that happen.

Re: Theranos, CEO Holmes, and Former President Balwani Charged with Fraud

#144

Post by simias »

noodle wrote: post #123
SilasX wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>For all those entrepreneurs are trying to "fake it until you make it" be aware that the SEC considers your strategy both fraudulent and they feel they have the jurisdiction to prosecute you. Holmes was, in many ways, embodying that HN mentality, acting on the basis: - that an entire industry has been doing it wrong - that it can be fixed by a low-bureaucracy, Angel-funded startup - that once you have enough success…

> that HN mentality Is that the HN mentality? It might lean more that way now, I suppose, but I've always felt it was more in the "scratch your own itch" territory and less in the "complete industry outsider disrupts XYZ industry with revolutionary ideas" area

Maybe "that YC/startup news mentality" would be a better qualifier. The whole "better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission" mentality. You can find some of that on HN but I hope we're a little more diverse than that.

Re: Theranos, CEO Holmes, and Former President Balwani Charged with Fraud

#145

Post by tzakrajs »

SilasX wrote: post #136
evrydayhustling wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can have all of those listed beliefs and still be honest about the actual state of your company, progress towards goals, etc. Doing so will probably beat those beliefs out of you, and you can come to an honest understanding of your limits. Arrogant, presumptive behavior is annoying -- but I think it's important to keep a bright line between that and dishonesty, because one self corrects and the other doesn't. And…

Then I'm confused: how can you a) hastily dismiss all self-doubt as Impostor Syndrome and b) believe "no one knows what they're doing either" while remaining able to accurately, honestly self-assess your skill, quality of work, and prospects for success? Edit: If you have a good answer, then I would suggest we start posting that as the advice ("here's how you know if you're good enough") rather than immediately tell…

All the less imposter syndrome to jettison if you ask me. If everyone is an idiot than self doubt is normal.

Re: Theranos, CEO Holmes, and Former President Balwani Charged with Fraud

#146

Post by padobson »

fwdpropaganda wrote: post #113
SilasX wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>For all those entrepreneurs are trying to "fake it until you make it" be aware that the SEC considers your strategy both fraudulent and they feel they have the jurisdiction to prosecute you. Holmes was, in many ways, embodying that HN mentality, acting on the basis: - that an entire industry has been doing it wrong - that it can be fixed by a low-bureaucracy, Angel-funded startup - that once you have enough success…

- dropping out is a positive thing (the implication being that education is either a scam or for dumb people, not smart people like us)

This feels more like an over-correction to the prevailing cultural wisdom that everyone needs a post-secondary education. Contrary thesis to the prevailing wisdom is where a lot of startup fortunes have been made.

Hopefully we're about to land in a cultural place where getting an education is seen as getting an education, rather than either a panacea for individual success or a complete waste of time/money for the docile masses.

Re: Theranos, CEO Holmes, and Former President Balwani Charged with Fraud

#147

Post by Karunamon »

_m8fo wrote: post #139
Karunamon wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Criminal litigation authority is on a whitelist, not a blacklist. It's not that a law restricted them, it's that they simply were never granted that authority. Random government authorities can't bring criminal proceedings anymore than the meter maid writing a parking ticket has the ability to haul you to court for parking in the wrong place. They send the information along to the people who do have that authority an…

> The key words in the article are "civil, not criminal". My keyword is why .

[disregard this, not enough caffiene today apparently]

Separation of powers. The SEC is part of the executive branch. The judicial branch is responsible for bringing suit.

If you want the why for that why, that's a philosophical discussion that probably won't be well served by a HN comment thread.

Re: Theranos, CEO Holmes, and Former President Balwani Charged with Fraud

#148

Post by [deleted] »

Bud wrote: post #121
_m8fo wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've already read that -- it does not explain why . It simply states that it cannot. What law restricted it? Why was that law put into place? How often are recommendations for prosecution followed up on successfully? EDIT: Thanks everyone for the information -- very interesting.

I'm pretty sure no law restricted it, and that the SEC's powers were set when it was established in the 1930s during the New Deal. So the answer to "why" appears to be, "because that's how it was set up".

[deleted]

Re: Theranos, CEO Holmes, and Former President Balwani Charged with Fraud

#149

Post by swyx »

bane wrote: post #103

Ugh Finally. More than just the financial fraud, these folks engaged in behavior that actively endangered the public. I hope this isn't the end of the government actions against them. Her public behavior was exceptionally bizarre and almost none of what's been revealed comes as any real surprise. For timeline purposes: Dec 24, 2017 - They get $100m lifeline investment https://www.wsj.com/articles/blood-testing-firm-t…

great list. thank you

Re: Theranos, CEO Holmes, and Former President Balwani Charged with Fraud

#150

Post by gowld »

SilasX wrote: post #90
ChuckMcM wrote: post #23

Ok, this is the money line in that press release for me: “The charges against Theranos, Holmes, and Balwani make clear that there is no exemption from the anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws simply because a company is non-public, development-stage, or the subject of exuberant media attention.” For all those entrepreneurs are trying to "fake it until you make it" be aware that the SEC considers your…

>For all those entrepreneurs are trying to "fake it until you make it" be aware that the SEC considers your strategy both fraudulent and they feel they have the jurisdiction to prosecute you. Holmes was, in many ways, embodying that HN mentality, acting on the basis: - that an entire industry has been doing it wrong - that it can be fixed by a low-bureaucracy, Angel-funded startup - that once you have enough success…

Theranos was more about using politically connected power-brokers to set up deals with kickbacks (their board/investors were government and military elites), less about "disrupting the industry with new ideas"
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