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Elizabeth Holmes found guilty

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Re: Elizabeth Holmes found guilty

#561

It blows my mind that she was found guilty for defrauding investors, but not guilty for defrauding patients about their test results. Investors know that every dollar they put into a company could disappear, it's why startups get capital from investors and not bank loans. But a patient does not expect for their blood test results to be completely wrong. Her tests weren't giving false-negatives or false-positives, the…

I get that investors should know any investment can go to 0. But she was defrauding them by outright lying about how well the tech worked and what it could do. This verdict I think restores that contract between entrepreneurs and investors by saying if both invest in good faith then the whole thing works out. Otherwise we allow grifters like her and her business partner to suck good money out of the system. Now future folks who would try to do the same have this verdict to look at.

Patients who were wronged by the company did get screwed though. Such is the nature of trials by jury sometimes the jury doesn’t come through.

Re: Elizabeth Holmes found guilty

#562
post #419
post #414

Looking at the Theranos comment history on HN is a journey [1]. From the very beginning there was a lot of skepticism. [1] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=30&prefix=false&q...

One interesting find from that search, here’s two videos of Holmes, in the first she fakes a creepy deep voice for the entirety of the interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YecjzEScXqU&t=105 In this video she is being interviewed on Mad Money, using her (assumed) actual voice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGfaJZAdfNE&t=403 What a strange person.

I never could understand why people pay so much attention to her voice. It's not that deep, I've known plenty of females with voice deeper than what you call 'creepy deep voice'. Such voice is not that rare and definitely not creepy, just voice.

Also some throat infections can temporarily make the voice lower.

Re: Elizabeth Holmes found guilty

#563
post #27

Some founders "fake it till you make it", and this news should serve as a cautionary tale.

"Fake it till you make it" originally meant behaving as an established company would, as opposed to presenting yourself as an upstart startup without a lot of customers. Basically: Professional website, formal company structure, normal business sales practices, having people available to answer the phones, and so on. You still had to do the work and deliver the results, but the goal was to overcome hesitancy to use s…

Fraud it till you got it?

Re: Elizabeth Holmes found guilty

#564
post #529

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Classic pics, thanks for sharing. I’d love to see the full quote in the first photo. It almost reminds me of Office Space.

I think the quote reads: "Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing."

Re: Elizabeth Holmes found guilty

#565

It blows my mind that she was found guilty for defrauding investors, but not guilty for defrauding patients about their test results. Investors know that every dollar they put into a company could disappear, it's why startups get capital from investors and not bank loans. But a patient does not expect for their blood test results to be completely wrong. Her tests weren't giving false-negatives or false-positives, the…

> Investors know that every dollar they put into a company could disappear Is not it kinda different if you are being lied though? If Holmes were faking her accomplishments and you investments were depending on those then I don't see why this wouldn't be fraud

If the patients were still getting correct results (I assume they were still being tested, but in traditional ways) then it makes sense that they were not being scammed

Re: Elizabeth Holmes found guilty

#566

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…

Huh. I never realized until this moment just how much I want to wear a work shirt that identifies me as 'Misty' from Theranos.

Re: Elizabeth Holmes found guilty

#568

It blows my mind that she was found guilty for defrauding investors, but not guilty for defrauding patients about their test results. Investors know that every dollar they put into a company could disappear, it's why startups get capital from investors and not bank loans. But a patient does not expect for their blood test results to be completely wrong. Her tests weren't giving false-negatives or false-positives, the…

"But a patient does not expect for their blood test results to be completely wrong."

The patient's state of mind, e.g., their expectations, is not an element of wire fraud. Only Holmes' state of mind is relevant; specifically, her intent.

Re: Elizabeth Holmes found guilty

#569

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…

That's hilarious and cool. You got a list of desirable brands? Off the top of my head I can only think of Enron, Lehman Brothers and Theranos.

stock up now on swag from Exxon, BP, Shell, etc., and leave it a few decades!

Re: Elizabeth Holmes found guilty

#570

It blows my mind that she was found guilty for defrauding investors, but not guilty for defrauding patients about their test results. Investors know that every dollar they put into a company could disappear, it's why startups get capital from investors and not bank loans. But a patient does not expect for their blood test results to be completely wrong. Her tests weren't giving false-negatives or false-positives, the…

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