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Elizabeth Holmes found guilty

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Re: Elizabeth Holmes found guilty

#451

Post by SEJeff »

bpodgursky wrote: post #438
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.

Quoted post unavailable.

Alternatively, there were retirement funds and real people whom she defrauded, some of which needed that money to live on and now do not have it. Strong punishments befit serious crimes. More than 140 million defrauded counts as serious. Maybe she shouldn't have broken the law?

Besides, she can likely get probation with good behavior after a decade or two of time served.

Re: Elizabeth Holmes found guilty

#452

Post by bg117 »

I remember my ex Manager who was from MIT taking the name of Theranos before it was in the news for all things bad and how they are revolutionizing healthcare. Looks like hype is how the whole thing is depending on.

Re: Elizabeth Holmes found guilty

#454

Post by throwawaylinux »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #447
hooande wrote: post #444

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this old thread is so hn. lots of discussion about famous names on the board, mentions of threats to privacy and discussion of the website ui. medman77 did crush it with actual technical analysis, among others. now I want to go back and see what hn said about other famous companies

I recall lots of doubt about Theranos from the beginning, especially due to the board composition.

I also recall a lot of bullishness especially due to the board. The idea of getting in on war profiteering and inflated government contracts made a lot of mouths water.

Re: Elizabeth Holmes found guilty

#455

Post by KumoriNova »

bpodgursky wrote: post #438
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.

Quoted post unavailable.

I don't want her to serve out a death sentence. I'd like her to serve a fair sentence.

Re: Elizabeth Holmes found guilty

#456

Post by kstrauser »

manquer wrote: post #338
kstrauser wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> people are having success with her ideas today Citation needed. The whole concept has a critical flaw, as pointed out by her engineering staff and medical advisors: blood tests require a certain minimum volume of blood to work, and that's inescapable because blood components are discrete, not continuous. For example, a drop of blood is about .05mL, or about 1/20th of a milliliter. A common testing sample size in a…

While Theranos claims were absurd , it is not hard to believe there is scope for improvements in specific areas which is what OP is trying to say I guess. 1. The premise assumes there are not significant wastage in the current processes and those are near optimal. Any non optimal paths could potentially benefit from improvements 2. While there are some tests at that low concentrations not all tests have components at…

True, and there are chemistry tests that would probably be reasonably testable. For instance, blood glucose is already testable from a finger prick, so that’d be just fine. Still, a lot of people with the background to have informed opinions have spoken up to say that some of her claims weren’t possible on a theory basis, not just because of an engineering challenge.

Re: Elizabeth Holmes found guilty

#457

Post by lotsofpulp »

bpodgursky wrote: post #438
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.

Quoted post unavailable.

She went on the witness stand and continued to lie, showing no indication that she has changed course.

Re: Elizabeth Holmes found guilty

#458

Post by MarcelOlsz »

hooande wrote: post #444
nerevarthelame wrote: post #441

Here's the earliest HN submission I could find on Theranos: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6349349 I don't really blame folks for not calling it out as a fraud at that point, given how little information we had. There were, for what it's worth, a number of people who complained about the ambiguity of the website. But many were convinced that the illustrious board must mean good results. Well done to medman77 wh…

this old thread is so hn. lots of discussion about famous names on the board, mentions of threats to privacy and discussion of the website ui. medman77 did crush it with actual technical analysis, among others. now I want to go back and see what hn said about other famous companies

My favourite[0] is the dropbox post.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8863

Re: Elizabeth Holmes found guilty

#459

Post by mehrshad »

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…

A colleague of mine was contracted by one of several firms tasked with liquidating Theranos' Newark facilities back in Aug 2018. I took the opportunity to grab the equivalent of $15,000 of tools, furniture, scientific equipment, and of course, swag. All legally - liquidators are tasked with clearing the site of everything by a set time.

Had free reign throughout the facility for two days, scavenging through 200k sqft+ of warehouse, marveling at the cringey pseudo-motivational blather posted everywhere and grabbing whatever could fit into my apartment at the time. At one point, we spotted Holmes (and her "special needs" Siberian Husky puppy who left dribbles of urine on the warehouse floor) arguing with some operators from afar.

We weren't allowed to touch specific computers, chemicals or any hardware locked in the cages (incl Edison devices), but everything else was up for grabs, from high-end Mitutoyo measuring tools to Aeron chairs to U-Line desks, Theranos bumper stickers, water bottles, etc etc etc.

So yeah, I've got a few bits of Theranos branded gear... Still waiting on the right time to sell.

[0] https://imgur.com/a/36HtZCp

Re: Elizabeth Holmes found guilty

#460

Post by rurp »

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…

I really don't think there's much of a "there" there. In addition to the points others have made, she wouldn't have even gotten off the ground with this if she'd been a nobody from a poor family. Leveraging her family's connections was an essential part of the process and makes the whole thing even more shady.
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