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23andMe's Fall

wsj.com

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Re: 23andMe's Fall

#81

Post by al_borland »

Now we get to see the compromises they choose when desperation sinks in.

I think getting the results of one of these tests would be interested, but I haven’t been able to bring myself to do it, due to trust issues related to handing over something like that to a company with an unproven track record when it comes to privacy and integrity. I figured it was only a matter of time before they were hacked or they decided to sell out their users for profit. They’ve already been hacked, so now it’s time to see what they willingly do with that data when their back is against the wall.

I wish I could get a test done by a lab, be given the results, and have that be the end of it. No accounts, no forever records kept by the lab/company. Just a simple testing service that isn’t trying to be a tech company.

Re: 23andMe's Fall

#82

Post by bombcar »

helsinkiandrew wrote: post #11

> She’s sticking to her goal to transform 23andMe from a supplier of basic ancestry and health data into a comprehensive healthcare company that develops drugs, offers medical care and sells subscription health reports. The company hasn't the funds (or time) to develop drugs and I'm not sure why any investors would invest in them rather than a company with a track record of doing so or a potential drug. Selling their…

That goal sounds like a goal you have to raise funds, not a goal you have to actually do the thing.

Perhaps ok for a startup, not ok for a many years old established company.

Re: 23andMe's Fall

#83

Post by bedhead »

The last 5-8 years in tech were like the steroid era in baseball. We thought all these people were geniuses but virtually none of them can make their business models work without free money and investors looking the other way on profitability. 23 and Me being worth billions is like Brady Anderson hitting 50 home runs.

Re: 23andMe's Fall

#84

Post by bombcar »

bArray wrote: post #42
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.

Remember that startup "valuations" are not what they're "worth" - it's simply how small of a segment they have been able to convince the last round to take. The valuations have a bunch of unknowns that can wildly swing it.

The small business is successful and so the calculus as to what it is worth is much more explicit.

The extreme example of this is commercial real estate with a long-term tenant (think: the person who owns the land a post office is sitting on). Everything is known (lease length, amounts, current interest rates, etc, etc) that the value/sale price is a simple formula.

Re: 23andMe's Fall

#85

Post by bombcar »

toader wrote: post #80

Not encrypting user data and then being hacked resulting in compromised user DNA details certainly isn't a positive for PR. Can someone tell me why more companies don't encrypt data at rest and if that would have prevented the leak?

Because actually encrypting at rest usually offers a ton of hassle for little actual additional security.

For example, if done right, you need to decrypt with some form of passcode/system on boot, etc, etc. But once "unlocked" the system has access to the data, and usually the hackers come in via the "live" system.

Things like backups are usually encrypted but not always, but the number of incidents of people stealing physical media is pretty low compared to ransomware/remote hacks.

Re: 23andMe's Fall

#86

Post by GartzenDeHaes »

toader wrote: post #80

Not encrypting user data and then being hacked resulting in compromised user DNA details certainly isn't a positive for PR. Can someone tell me why more companies don't encrypt data at rest and if that would have prevented the leak?

Encrypting data at rest in a data center doesn't provide as much protection as you might think. The level of system access in order to access the raw data files is usually about the same as accessing the higher level database system itself. So at best you're adding a couple of extra steps to the attack.

Since there are usually significant costs to encrypting production databases, such as CPU utilization, many organizations choose to focus on other security controls. Data encryption is just one of many security controls at play in a scenario such as this and the security team has to carefully pick their battles to avoid just being completely ignored as the "say no to everything" guys.

Re: 23andMe's Fall

#87

Post by layer8 »

mplscarnut wrote: post #64
bArray wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

There’s plenty of successful businesses chugging along growing at about the rate of inflation. It’s really hard to grow a business at 10 or 500 times that rate. Why would it be surprising to value the latter kind of business higher than the former?

What use is that growth in terms of valuation if the company never manages to break even?

Re: 23andMe's Fall

#89

Post by shellfishgene »

Shank wrote: post #33

> To create a recurring revenue stream from the tests, Wojcicki has pivoted to subscriptions. As media companies launched streaming “+” channels, Wojcicki rolled out 23andMe+, offering personalized health reports, lifestyle advice and unspecified “new reports and features as discoveries are made” for an initial $229, with annual renewals of $69. I was a heavy believer of 23andMe until this point. I answered all of th…

Is there a Promethease equivalent for ancestry data?

Re: 23andMe's Fall

#90

Post by iancmceachern »

helsinkiandrew wrote: post #11

> She’s sticking to her goal to transform 23andMe from a supplier of basic ancestry and health data into a comprehensive healthcare company that develops drugs, offers medical care and sells subscription health reports. The company hasn't the funds (or time) to develop drugs and I'm not sure why any investors would invest in them rather than a company with a track record of doing so or a potential drug. Selling their…

It would be far smarter for them to try to sell the data to drug companies.

In the words of Boromir: "One does not just become a drug company."

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