Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Independent directors of 23andMe resign from board

investors.23andme.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

231–240 of 372 posts

Re: Independent directors of 23andMe resign from board

#231

Post by zahlman »

ben_w wrote: post #183
dvh wrote: post #175

There is absolutely no reason for these companies to collect your PII whatsoever. You should go to nearest pharmacy and buy sterile swab, swab yourself and write long random number on it and send it. Once a month company publishes one giant zip with all the monthly result where you find your file by that random number you wrote.

> write long random number on it Human brains when generating 'random' numbers: https://xkcd.com/221/ > Once a month company publishes one giant zip with all the monthly result where you find your file by that random number you wrote. Given how much of our appearance is due to genetics, that's basically all the harm with none of the convenience.

>Human brains when generating 'random' numbers

Fortunately, contemporary humans have access to computers, which can generate random numbers for them free of charge.

>Given how much of our appearance is due to genetics, that's basically all the harm

I can't fathom your concept of "harm"; and neither, I think, would any prospective customer of this service.

Re: Independent directors of 23andMe resign from board

#232

Post by brookst »

throwawayffffas wrote: post #86
brookst wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To complete the data, the company is trading at $0.34/share, so while $0.40 is a bit lower than the typical 20% premium (~$0.41), I'm not sure it counts as "lowball". It's a typical premium over market cap. Is there any reason to think the company is worth $4.7B or whatever ($9.30/share)? If so the stock is a steal at its current price and we should all buy lots. But can the market be THAT wrong?

The resignation implication is that the CEO is running the company to the ground. The comment further implies this is on purpose in order to buy the company cheaply.

Since CEOs typically own a lot of stock and are compensated for performance, doesn’t that seem like a strange theory? Intentionally destroying a company you run and own shares in so you can buy more shares seems like a really complicated and high risk strategy compared to just running it well, making a fortune, and getting an even bigger CEO gig.

Re: Independent directors of 23andMe resign from board

#233

Post by IG_Semmelweiss »

vineyardmike wrote: post #150
soganess wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know the first thing wrt how 23andMe has its governance and voting setup, but the letter seems to imply the CEO has majority power or, at least, a large enough plurality that it is a one-person-show: > Because of that difference and because of your concentrated voting power, we believe that it is in the best interests of the Company’s shareholders that we resign EDIT: But that brings up a different question:…

> EDIT: But that brings up a different question: If you have majority voting power, why try to take the company private (as it has been suggested by others here)? 1. Less legal oversight and paperwork. 2. I don’t know the terms of the buyout, but if this means the CEO, family, friends, etc (“insiders”) become the new shareholders, then any future upside will be distributed to insiders not the open market.

You can have company control without having even a majority.

This is similar to what zuckerberg is doing with Meta. Supervoting Class A shares vs common shares, etc.

The arrangement is completely up to the governing docs of the entity.

Re: Independent directors of 23andMe resign from board

#234

Post by iwishiknewlisp »

Simon_ORourke wrote: post #171
bruceb wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Closest competitor does a lot of heavy lifting in this situation. Ancestry is the overwhelming leader in the find long lost relative space/your "roots" space. Look at https://www.ancestry.com/ and https://www.23andme.com/ 23andme has basically given up on this part of the business. Their pitch is health. But that pitch is murky with no good hook to keep you hooked for a monthly subscription. So after they get the ini…

> leader in the find long lost relative space/your "roots" space. Acknowledging Ancestry.com are well ahead of the market here, but I never got their appeal of finding some long-lost second cousins... basically strangers, and saying, "hey, isn't it fascinating that we share some arbitrary level of common genetic makeup". If some randomer reached out via email to me doing this big reveal I'd be "thanks, but into the s…

If you are from the United States its interesting to trace back your ancestry and last name to a specific person/persons from another country.

There are tons of websites for different last names in the United States, showing history of the name. Many times the last name be traced back to a singular person, which I find especially cool since you have sprawling families all connected by one guy who made the journey over. Obviously last names like Smith won't be like this, but if you have a unique last name it can actually be quite common that one person coming to the new world connects you and everybody else in the Americas together. I find that super cool to think about and I am glad people are doing the effort to research and find this info out.

Re: Independent directors of 23andMe resign from board

#235

Post by iwishiknewlisp »

iwishiknewlisp wrote: post #234
Simon_ORourke wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> leader in the find long lost relative space/your "roots" space. Acknowledging Ancestry.com are well ahead of the market here, but I never got their appeal of finding some long-lost second cousins... basically strangers, and saying, "hey, isn't it fascinating that we share some arbitrary level of common genetic makeup". If some randomer reached out via email to me doing this big reveal I'd be "thanks, but into the s…

If you are from the United States its interesting to trace back your ancestry and last name to a specific person/persons from another country. There are tons of websites for different last names in the United States, showing history of the name. Many times the last name be traced back to a singular person, which I find especially cool since you have sprawling families all connected by one guy who made the journey ove…

In addition, for people who were adopted and didn't know their birth parents, it can be interesting to connect with your biological family through ancestry work.

Re: Independent directors of 23andMe resign from board

#236

Post by marxisttemp »

RicoElectrico wrote: post #208
Simon_ORourke wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> leader in the find long lost relative space/your "roots" space. Acknowledging Ancestry.com are well ahead of the market here, but I never got their appeal of finding some long-lost second cousins... basically strangers, and saying, "hey, isn't it fascinating that we share some arbitrary level of common genetic makeup". If some randomer reached out via email to me doing this big reveal I'd be "thanks, but into the s…

Americans treat their ancestry (specifically the nations they come from) almost like zodiac signs. This is meme material (e.g. Plastic Paddies, Plywood Poles etc.)

Zodiac signs is a good way of putting it.

I think as a country of immigrants—or colonizers—we all feel desperate for some sense of personal history and identity.

Re: Independent directors of 23andMe resign from board

#237

Post by [deleted] »

brookst wrote: post #232
throwawayffffas wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The resignation implication is that the CEO is running the company to the ground. The comment further implies this is on purpose in order to buy the company cheaply.

Since CEOs typically own a lot of stock and are compensated for performance, doesn’t that seem like a strange theory? Intentionally destroying a company you run and own shares in so you can buy more shares seems like a really complicated and high risk strategy compared to just running it well, making a fortune, and getting an even bigger CEO gig.

[deleted]

Re: Independent directors of 23andMe resign from board

#238

Post by raddan »

FollowingTheDao wrote: post #222
Simon_ORourke wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> leader in the find long lost relative space/your "roots" space. Acknowledging Ancestry.com are well ahead of the market here, but I never got their appeal of finding some long-lost second cousins... basically strangers, and saying, "hey, isn't it fascinating that we share some arbitrary level of common genetic makeup". If some randomer reached out via email to me doing this big reveal I'd be "thanks, but into the s…

I not only found a genetic disorder that my mother and I shared (Partial PNP Deficiency) but I also found an woman who was the illegitimate daughter of my Uncle (who had passed away) and she was fianlly able to see pictures of him and know more about him. There is so much more power in 23andMe's Raw Data regarding health than people realize and I am capitalizing on it. (Less with the v5 chip but it is still really go…

I also have a rare genetic disorder (alpha-1 antitrypsin disorder) and discovered it using 23andMe. I am in the process of working with a pulmonologist to manage the disease, and if they had not screened me for it, I would have written off my symptoms as “just bad asthma.” Currently there is no health product that 23andMe sells that is appealing to me, but if there were, I would gladly pay. I hope they can stick it out because their DNA screening is a valuable service.

Re: Independent directors of 23andMe resign from board

#239

Post by gosub100 »

ilamont wrote: post #67
LeanderK wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what am I missing? Isn't this good news (the positive phase 2 results)?

Phase 2 is not a slam dunk. Much more work remains, and under the guidance of a CEO who has zero drug development experience and a track record of management incompetence: - lying about growth - pushing out the cofounder - never making a profit - hack that went undiscovered for months About the only area she's had success is raising money and that's in large part thanks to being a member of the Silicon Valley elite.

Could the hack have been part of the plan all along to depress the share price to make for a cheap buy-out?

Re: Independent directors of 23andMe resign from board

#240

Post by ben_w »

zahlman wrote: post #231
ben_w wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> write long random number on it Human brains when generating 'random' numbers: https://xkcd.com/221/ > Once a month company publishes one giant zip with all the monthly result where you find your file by that random number you wrote. Given how much of our appearance is due to genetics, that's basically all the harm with none of the convenience.

>Human brains when generating 'random' numbers Fortunately, contemporary humans have access to computers, which can generate random numbers for them free of charge. >Given how much of our appearance is due to genetics, that's basically all the harm I can't fathom your concept of "harm"; and neither, I think, would any prospective customer of this service.

> I can't fathom your concept of "harm"; and neither, I think, would any prospective customer of this service.

I'm fairly relaxed about my medical history, but it's really obvious to me that I'm weird in being relaxed.

Despite my relaxed attitude, it's still fairly obvious that this lists every genetic condition*, which in turn obviously going to be relevant to any health insurance provider that isn't banned from using it.

Monetary damages are one of the easiest ones to quantify, from what I hear.

* even those that have not yet had the relevant genes discovered, because statistical methods need a larger population

Post reply on HN