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

Theranos Founder Faces a Test of Technology, and Reputation

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 105 posts

Re: Theranos Founder Faces a Test of Technology, and Reputation

#51

Post by rokhayakebe »

n0us wrote: post #7

The idea of rapid disruption in the healthcare industry makes me uncomfortable for some reason. I admire Holmes's ambition and in interviews I've watched she seems competent and well guided but something just doesn't seem to add up. How was a college dropout able to get a break in the healthcare sector? Becoming a doctor requires years of education and training and along comes this young woman who just decides "I'm g…

Medical knowledge is no prerequisite to shaking up Healthcare.

Prior experience is no prerequisite to start and grow a business into several billions in valuation; ask Mark, Larry, Bill, Steve and 'em.

Making blood tests super easy to take is extremely important. For example such a system could run tests daily and inform you a long time before something terrible happens. It's like cars, before they existed it wasn't very easy to understand how they will impact societies.

Re: Theranos Founder Faces a Test of Technology, and Reputation

#52

Post by late2part »

cft wrote: post #44

I actually wonder if this is an early signal that there maybe corruption inside the FDA. The goal of recruiting a BoD of this level of influence but of irrelevant skills was an attempt to control the outcome of the FDA approval process, regardless of whether the tests actually work or not. The purpose of NYT article seems to be to message that while Holmes may get removed from the CEO, the shareholders are still hopi…

When you hear hoofbeats, you don't think zebra.

I'm no fan of Theranos, but the more plausible explanation is that she's blue bood family w/ connections, and they're pulling those in because they can.

I don't accept as supported the assertion that influential accomplished people on your BOD means you're out to corruptly influence process (any more than general business).

Re: Theranos Founder Faces a Test of Technology, and Reputation

#53

Post by foobarian »

mikexstudios wrote: post #36

The images in this article are awful: generic shots and captions of a machine shop; a (possibly empty) black box that's supposed to be a testing machine. Where are the actual machines doing the tests? Where's the science?

The photo of a couple adjacent "machinist" stations was puzzling. They were pegboards with some carpenter tools like a cordless drill, hammers, wrenches, etc. Not very confidence inspiring.

Re: Theranos Founder Faces a Test of Technology, and Reputation

#54

Post by pkaye »

n0us wrote: post #7

The idea of rapid disruption in the healthcare industry makes me uncomfortable for some reason. I admire Holmes's ambition and in interviews I've watched she seems competent and well guided but something just doesn't seem to add up. How was a college dropout able to get a break in the healthcare sector? Becoming a doctor requires years of education and training and along comes this young woman who just decides "I'm g…

Theranos was founded in 2003, so it is a 12 year old company. So it is a long time to come up with a disruptive technology even for the healthcare industry. And she comes from a wealthy family with the right connections.

Re: Theranos Founder Faces a Test of Technology, and Reputation

#55

Post by [deleted] »

n0us wrote: post #7

The idea of rapid disruption in the healthcare industry makes me uncomfortable for some reason. I admire Holmes's ambition and in interviews I've watched she seems competent and well guided but something just doesn't seem to add up. How was a college dropout able to get a break in the healthcare sector? Becoming a doctor requires years of education and training and along comes this young woman who just decides "I'm g…

[deleted]

Re: Theranos Founder Faces a Test of Technology, and Reputation

#56

Post by ksherlock »

n0us wrote: post #7

The idea of rapid disruption in the healthcare industry makes me uncomfortable for some reason. I admire Holmes's ambition and in interviews I've watched she seems competent and well guided but something just doesn't seem to add up. How was a college dropout able to get a break in the healthcare sector? Becoming a doctor requires years of education and training and along comes this young woman who just decides "I'm g…

SPOILER ALERT

There is no Theranos. It's a marketing campaign for a sci-fi movie being released in 2016. (Look at Elizabeth Holmes' (an actress, btw) dress code. Look at their website. Try to find a reference to the company before 2015. It simply doesn't exist!).

After the surprising success of Soylent, MGM decided to cash in with an updated version of Soylent Green. In the future, instead of eating food, people just insert their finger into a machine which analyzes their blood chemistry and makes a delicious beverage optimized for your individual needs. Of course, it also scans your calendar (final exams? Add some ritalin. Important business presentation? Add some xanax. Hot date? Add some viagra).

I don't want to give away any more of the plot, but it stars Elizabeth Holmes and Will Smith (note this is the second remake where he replaces Charleston Heston, the first being Omega Man/I am Legend).

Re: Theranos Founder Faces a Test of Technology, and Reputation

#57

Post by joelS »

klenwell wrote: post #4

They [former employees] say she [founder, Elizabeth Holmes] would become angry and sometimes fire people who pointed out problems. She often spoke as though the company’s technology already existed, they said, rather than as if it were still in development. Funny how that works. I'm just getting into the book Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction by Tetlock and Gardner and came across this passage: Gale…

Another Feynman quote that comes to mind:

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled."

Re: Theranos Founder Faces a Test of Technology, and Reputation

#58

Post by pkaye »

CamperBob2 wrote: post #35
n0us wrote: post #7

The idea of rapid disruption in the healthcare industry makes me uncomfortable for some reason. I admire Holmes's ambition and in interviews I've watched she seems competent and well guided but something just doesn't seem to add up. How was a college dropout able to get a break in the healthcare sector? Becoming a doctor requires years of education and training and along comes this young woman who just decides "I'm g…

Perhaps I just don't understand the phobia that some people have around blood tests but it is my understanding that you get a blood test as a way to gauge your health, not because it makes you feel nice. The hold up doesn't seem to be that tons of people are afraid of needles otherwise they would be getting tested all the time. The hold up to people getting blood tests all the time is that doctors don't order them, p…

Blood tests are not all that expensive. You can get the most common 25 blood tests done for a total $50 (including drawing blood and paying middle man costs with no insurance.)

Re: Theranos Founder Faces a Test of Technology, and Reputation

#59

Post by aheilbut »

mikexstudios wrote: post #36

The images in this article are awful: generic shots and captions of a machine shop; a (possibly empty) black box that's supposed to be a testing machine. Where are the actual machines doing the tests? Where's the science?

It's so bizarre that it must be intentional.

Re: Theranos Founder Faces a Test of Technology, and Reputation

#60

Post by drcode »

klenwell wrote: post #4

They [former employees] say she [founder, Elizabeth Holmes] would become angry and sometimes fire people who pointed out problems. She often spoke as though the company’s technology already existed, they said, rather than as if it were still in development. Funny how that works. I'm just getting into the book Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction by Tetlock and Gardner and came across this passage: Gale…

Sure, there are people in history who found their own way and we're the better for it, but for every 1000 people that "go against the grain" 999 end up just being people with not enough self awareness and a lack of personal insight.
Post reply on HN