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23andMe's Fall

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Re: 23andMe's Fall

#41

Post by rchaud »

nirvael wrote: post #21
logifail wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> needs a pivot where you can change the public's perception from a one-time test to continuous health monitoring through blood markers or something similar, expand to tests other than genetic and make it a repeatable, accurate test that gives you more information (and obviously stop leaking people's data). "Stop leaking data"? Sounds like a step forward. > But why not focus on the B2B side? Sell access to their data…

That's the conflict at the heart of the business. But do the public care enough about that? Obviously a HN audience does, but people use Google and Facebook products every day with the awareness that all that data is sold directly to advertisers. With the right messaging ("yes, we sell your data, but it's to drug companies to help make drugs that can cure your illnesses") it's possible that the conflict isnt too much…

Drug companies pay pretty well for clinical trials, so why would anyone pay 23andme for their own data, so that 23andme can turn around and sell it to drug companies?

Re: 23andMe's Fall

#42

Post by bArray »

mnky9800n wrote: post #12

A company that has never made any money is now worth nothing. Maybe the world is starting to make sense again?

Trust me, it's not. I've seen start-ups worth 100x than a smaller successful business due to speculation, despite the smaller business employing more people and actually turning profit for many years.

Re: 23andMe's Fall

#43

Post by hyperorca »

Their kit is 99 dollars, but how expensive is the actual DNA testing nowadays ? It's my understanding from this [0] video that it is approximately 1000 dollars for the whole genome, but 23&Me sequence only a tiny portion of the genome (above video mentions 500 000 bases out of 6 billion total bases of human genome), and that sequencer processes thousands of samples in parallel, so there is some economy of scale factors. It is sometimes very confusing how all these tech/techish companies have such bad financials.

[0] https://youtu.be/C3T_IaIGQxo?t=141

Re: 23andMe's Fall

#44

Post by rchaud »

chapter11soon wrote: post #25

[flagged]

It's not clear to me that this was in any way a money-making business. The test only needs to be taken once. Selling this data to 3rd parties by way of a sneaky EULA may be part of SV culture, but it's probably not something that would get you repeat business in healthcare.

Re: 23andMe's Fall

#45

Post by crotchfire »

rchaud wrote: post #37
crotchfire wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That would impede their plan to sell 23andMe, including its DNA database, to China (or Russia, or Antarctica, or the next Martians that happen along).

When there are perfectly good intelligence agencies to sell to at home? /s

Oh they've already sold it to those folks.

Re: 23andMe's Fall

#46

Post by resters »

numbsafari wrote: post #36
resters wrote: post #23

Oddly, 23andme adopted an extremely cautious, risk-averse strategy with respect to providing "health information". The result of this is that many other services became a more interesting/entertaining source of personalized health information based on genetic data (often 23andme raw data extracted and fed into the other system). I get new updated health information from 23andme perhaps 2 times per year. It's mind bog…

I’m confused… you want more health recommendations from a service whose most basic scientific offering you also consider junk? I have some pills for you. Just for you, mind you. Special made. Sign up for this subscription and we’ll send you a new supply each day…

No, but I would prefer greater transparency about the accuracy of the analysis and also greater transparency about the reliability (or unreliability) of any health recommendations based on research.

I'm not looking for a single source of authority and I will not be disappointed if an updated "chip" or study reverses a previous recommendation/insight.

23andme had a blog post about the MTHFR gene and why they don't include it. I'm not there to read the blog I want to know interesting things about my own genetics, even if what is interesting is that they don't think it matters! This is just bad content strategy even if it's justifiable from a "healthcare" perspective.

Why so much worry about a customer getting the wrong impression from one of the health reports? Seems a bit absurd. How much money did it cost to put in place all the warnings about the potentially upsetting impact of various mutations.

I wish that 23andme had focused on being an entertaining way for people to discover more interesting stuff about themselves, rather than a rarefied place where only the most well-vetted research is acknowledged to exist.

Re: 23andMe's Fall

#47

Post by rchaud »

atemerev wrote: post #22
kibwen wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Correction: the highest bidder will have the DNA databases.

Qatari government is always happy to help.

How about the "Russian-born billionnaire" neighbour? Seems like he put in a pretty penny as well.

Re: 23andMe's Fall

#48

Post by rchaud »

incomingpain wrote: post #38
pkphilip wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What happens when the company goes down? they will still have the DNA databases

there's no guarantee they will go under. They have low debt and while unprofitable and a relatively reducing number of potential customers. Their huge problem is hackers. All the latest news is how hackers have grabbed up those databases. What's likely to happen, they'll self restructure, get to profitability, start a stock buyback program. But IF and WHEN?

No company that had to go public via SPAC is going to bother with all that. The whole point is to pump and dump. This company will be folded into some drug company for its "IP".

Re: 23andMe's Fall

#49

Post by ianai »

PaulHoule wrote: post #34

It is an embarrassment that they bought Lemonaid health, I don’t know any other way to put it. (1) Is that being associated with a penis pill pusher is brand destruction. Any normal person would get this right away without trying but executives just can’t see what their actions look like to their customers. (2) It’s a form of achievement laundering. Lemonaid health failed, pure and simple. A circle jerk acquisition i…

[flagged]

Re: 23andMe's Fall

#50

Post by tomaytotomato »

Silicon Valley's time is coming soon, it is going to go the same way as Hard Rock/Heavy Metal music scene on the Sunset Strip, LA in the 90s.

I give it 10 years time before it turns into a town just living on its old glory, with tourist attractions like:

- "This used to be a bar where Google's exec team drank"

or

- "This was the hotel Mark Zuckerberg threw an Oculus Rift into the pool"

or

- "Oracle datacentre re-enactment theme park, with real old beard Oracle DBA you can interact with"

Reference: https://youtu.be/AUrHVWa3s2Y

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