Elizabeth Holmes found guilty • Hacker News Board

Re: Elizabeth Holmes found guilty

#421

Post by blackoil » Tue, Jan 04, 2022, 3:57 AM UTC

neom wrote: post #136

latenightcoding wrote: post #101

Question: could Holmes have avoided all of this by pivoting to something else and not losing investors money. It is extremely common for startups to exaggerate their tech just to later pivot to something else without any repercussions.

I followed the case very closely, read the transcripts I could find daily etc. What Elizabeth did wasn't far from what many many many founders do. This was held to a legal standard, sure, but let's be real here... since when was the legal standard the SV standard? Is SV really the bastion of morality and legal ethics? Is that the new norm, good behaviour? Notably some investors refused to participate and iirc Draper…

Are there any public example of the claims you are making?

Re: Elizabeth Holmes found guilty

#422

Post by TaylorAlexander » Tue, Jan 04, 2022, 3:59 AM UTC

sharkweek wrote: post #25

This will sound weird but I am a collector of swag from large companies that have collapsed due to anything from mismanagement to outright fraud. While we're a rare breed there are others like me out there. Still, even with this oddly specific marketplace being small, let me tell you, the Theranos swag market is hot right now (check eBay if you're curious). Wish I had gone big on this one earlier, because I have a fe…

Reminds me of the water bottle from Palantir I have that seems very cursed.

Re: Elizabeth Holmes found guilty

#423

Post by rot13xor » Tue, Jan 04, 2022, 3:59 AM UTC

dooglius wrote: post #58

sharkweek wrote: post #25

This will sound weird but I am a collector of swag from large companies that have collapsed due to anything from mismanagement to outright fraud. While we're a rare breed there are others like me out there. Still, even with this oddly specific marketplace being small, let me tell you, the Theranos swag market is hot right now (check eBay if you're curious). Wish I had gone big on this one earlier, because I have a fe…

What does "authentic" mean here? Isn't company swag just the company emailing a logo to 3rd parties who print it on shirts/whatever?

I assume you could buy the stuff from the company's bankruptcy auction or when it gets auctioned off by the Feds like in the case of Martin Shkreli's exclusive Wu Tang album.

Re: Elizabeth Holmes found guilty

#424

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Jan 04, 2022, 4:01 AM UTC

mdoms wrote: post #340

metadat wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hopefully she'll get more, SV could use a good example. Otherwise it signals that wantrepeneurs can keep doing it with minimal repercussions.

Ok I'm not American so perhaps my perspective is different... More than 10 years would be utterly barbaric. The 65 years mentioned in another comment chain would be well beyond the pale. I'm no fan of Holmes, but what good does it serve to lock up non violent criminals for decades?

[deleted]

Re: Elizabeth Holmes found guilty

#425

Post by rTX5CMRXIfFG » Tue, Jan 04, 2022, 4:03 AM UTC

These days, whenever someone is being presented as an absolute villain (as in the case of Holmes), comments sections tend to have not a few posts about how the things they’ve done, from a different vantage point, are understandable, or morally ambiguous and not objectively evil, or even amoral. I’m completely opposed to what she has done, but could there be any reason why we all seem to be unanimous that she is objectively evil?

Re: Elizabeth Holmes found guilty

#426

Post by acdanger » Tue, Jan 04, 2022, 4:06 AM UTC

rTX5CMRXIfFG wrote: post #425

These days, whenever someone is being presented as an absolute villain (as in the case of Holmes), comments sections tend to have not a few posts about how the things they’ve done, from a different vantage point, are understandable, or morally ambiguous and not objectively evil, or even amoral. I’m completely opposed to what she has done, but could there be any reason why we all seem to be unanimous that she is objec…

Yes

Re: Elizabeth Holmes found guilty

#427

Post by tjpnz » Tue, Jan 04, 2022, 4:07 AM UTC

lotsofpulp wrote: post #24

dbcooper wrote: post #4

More complete summary from the NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/01/03/technology/elizabeth... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29789074

> Very little is known of Mr. Balwani, including why he is called “Sunny.” This might be because Saturday in Hindi and other Indian languages is “sunny-var”, and the day of the week you are born on is a common nickname, in conjunction with “sunny” being an easy to pronounce and common English word.

The one thing I remember distinctly about Balwani (although I can't remember where from) was him boasting about the 100k LOC he wrote while at Microsoft. Like it was supposed to be a badge of honour or indicator of intellectual prowess.

Re: Elizabeth Holmes found guilty

#428

Post by dkjaudyeqooe » Tue, Jan 04, 2022, 4:10 AM UTC

rTX5CMRXIfFG wrote: post #425

These days, whenever someone is being presented as an absolute villain (as in the case of Holmes), comments sections tend to have not a few posts about how the things they’ve done, from a different vantage point, are understandable, or morally ambiguous and not objectively evil, or even amoral. I’m completely opposed to what she has done, but could there be any reason why we all seem to be unanimous that she is objec…

The evidence.

I don't think it's any sort of prejudice (sexism, high flyer, etc), her behaviour seems to speak for itself.

Re: Elizabeth Holmes found guilty

#429

Post by selfhifive » Tue, Jan 04, 2022, 4:13 AM UTC

rTX5CMRXIfFG wrote: post #425

These days, whenever someone is being presented as an absolute villain (as in the case of Holmes), comments sections tend to have not a few posts about how the things they’ve done, from a different vantage point, are understandable, or morally ambiguous and not objectively evil, or even amoral. I’m completely opposed to what she has done, but could there be any reason why we all seem to be unanimous that she is objec…

Because she messed with the financial life and physical life of people. Also she used the enthusiasm shared by people who like to advance technology to manipulate people which is a grave sin for the kind of audience you'll find here.

Re: Elizabeth Holmes found guilty

#430

Post by pharrington » Tue, Jan 04, 2022, 4:13 AM UTC

mdoms wrote: post #340

metadat wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hopefully she'll get more, SV could use a good example. Otherwise it signals that wantrepeneurs can keep doing it with minimal repercussions.

Ok I'm not American so perhaps my perspective is different... More than 10 years would be utterly barbaric. The 65 years mentioned in another comment chain would be well beyond the pale. I'm no fan of Holmes, but what good does it serve to lock up non violent criminals for decades?

American prison terms, in general, are utterly barbaric. People can get 10 years for drug possession in this country.

Our system is ludicrous, but within its current bounds, over 10 years would be just.