FC/OT: TMB Documentary Film Club - 'The Inventor: Out for Blood' - Theranos/Elizabeth Holmes Film....

[Midnighter]

Available on Netflix. Again, holy sh*t - how are people still conned by bright, idealistic, but completely full of sh*t, Steve Jobs wannabes? I crapped all over We Work (which was valued at nearly five times Theranos) for basically wanting to change the world by being landlords who offered beer on tap and a coffee bar, so at least with Theranos there is 'the thing' - 'the thing' is what is unique about your business that is a game changer. Offering beer and coffee in a communal working space is not new or ingenious - it's Regus + Bar + Coffee. That is not worth $49 billion dollars. Theranos, on the other hand, wanted to change the way we think about and access our own health care. The idea is simple - change the way blood is drawn and analyzed and make it so anyone at anytime can check their blood for potential disease/infection so if caught early enough, medical treatment would be more effective. No more waiting a year for bloodwork at the request of a doctor and no more outrageous cost - Theranos will put a machine in your home that will do all the work of a lab with much less cost and at your convenience. Great idea - but, difficult/near impossible to pull of with available technology. Still, she managed to surround herself with some powerful, wealthy, influential folks who bought into her idea (without ever seeing proof the machine could do what she said) and not only funded her, but protected her (with the biggest legal machine in the US) as needed. The lesson here folks is if the company isn't public, they aren't obligated to show anything - this is how We Work was able to con so many people for so long, and the same is true here. 'Just give us money - trust me, the machine works.' LOL. Unfortunately for Holmes and Theranos, they actually deployed machines to Walgreens in Arizona and people were getting wild results for their labs. So, it's not a victimless crime anymore and that is why she's on trial this week. Will be interesting to see what happens here - I give her credit for the idea, but she started to believe her own lies and at some point you're not able to keep 'faking it until you make it.' Especially when customers/patients are involved and life and death is on the line.

I mean - if anyone in a start-up is wearing a turtleneck 'uniform' every single day, steer clear.

Next on my docu-list is the two Fyre Festival disasters. I started the one on Netflix and the guy responsible for 'island/party logistics' is a self taught pilot (via Microsoft Pilot) who has to convince people spending millions on this event that the island they bought isn't able to hold the 10,000 people they sold tickets to (and can only support about 10% of that number). Oh, and they also got Kendall Jenner (and lots of other beautiful top models) to make an Instagram post promoting the festival - she is unique because for ONE post, she received $250,000.00. Wow.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Available on Netflix. Again, holy sh*t - how are people still conned by bright, idealistic, but completely full of sh*t, Steve Jobs wannabes? I crapped all over We Work (which was valued at nearly five times Theranos) for basically wanting to change the world by being landlords who offered beer on tap and a coffee bar, so at least with Theranos there is 'the thing' - 'the thing' is what is unique about your business that is a game changer. Offering beer and coffee in a communal working space is not new or ingenious - it's Regus + Bar + Coffee. That is not worth $49 billion dollars. Theranos, on the other hand, wanted to change the way we think about and access our own health care. The idea is simple - change the way blood is drawn and analyzed and make it so anyone at anytime can check their blood for potential disease/infection so if caught early enough, medical treatment would be more effective. No more waiting a year for bloodwork at the request of a doctor and no more outrageous cost - Theranos will put a machine in your home that will do all the work of a lab with much less cost and at your convenience. Great idea - but, difficult/near impossible to pull of with available technology. Still, she managed to surround herself with some powerful, wealthy, influential folks who bought into her idea (without ever seeing proof the machine could do what she said) and not only funded her, but protected her (with the biggest legal machine in the US) as needed. The lesson here folks is if the company isn't public, they aren't obligated to show anything - this is how We Work was able to con so many people for so long, and the same is true here. 'Just give us money - trust me, the machine works.' LOL. Unfortunately for Holmes and Theranos, they actually deployed machines to Walgreens in Arizona and people were getting wild results for their labs. So, it's not a victimless crime anymore and that is why she's on trial this week. Will be interesting to see what happens here - I give her credit for the idea, but she started to believe her own lies and at some point you're not able to keep 'faking it until you make it.' Especially when customers/patients are involved and life and death is on the line.

I mean - if anyone in a start-up is wearing a turtleneck 'uniform' every single day, steer clear.

Next on my docu-list is the two Fyre Festival disasters. I started the one on Netflix and the guy responsible for 'island/party logistics' is a self taught pilot (via Microsoft Pilot) who has to convince people spending millions on this event that the island they bought isn't able to hold the 10,000 people they sold tickets to (and can only support about 10% of that number). Oh, and they also got Kendall Jenner (and lots of other beautiful top models) to make an Instagram post promoting the festival - she is unique because for ONE post, she received $250,000.00. Wow.

I look forward to watching it. Perhaps by the time I get around to watching it, the jury in her trial will have reached a decision.

 

[WSTLion87]

I read Bad Blood last summer... The way everyone was tricked.. Wow, just wow!

 

[91Joe95]

I read Bad Blood last summer... The way everyone was tricked.. Wow, just wow!

If you don't look or ask the right questions you are almost guaranteed not to find anything. I don't think people fully appreciate the genius of a system where everyone is "on their honor." Then they act shocked when something goes wrong and ignore fixing a critical problem.

 

[LionJim]

I look forward to watching it. Perhaps by the time I get around to watching it, the jury in her trial will have reached a decision.

I won’t be watching it (The New Yorker has covered this story in great detail and will undoubtedly cover the trail once it’s done with), but I hope that Tyler Schultz’ role in uncovering the scam is given its due prominence. The young man had guts. (He was the grandson of George Schultz and there was considerable pushback to his whistleblowing.)

 

[Lion84]

She was a Zuckerberg wanna be and a scam artist - she knew he machine didn’t work and continually lied about it but she is a white collar criminal so the most she will get is a year or two if anything at all - I watch American Greed and those scum bags get very little time and it’s almost worth it to live the high life for a decade and get a year or two in jail and they never seem to pay any restitution.

 

[Midnighter]

I won’t be watching it (The New Yorker has covered this story in great detail and will undoubtedly cover the trail once it’s done with), but I hope that Tyler Schultz’ role in uncovering the scam is given its due prominence. The young man had guts. (He was the grandson of George Schultz and there was considerable pushback on his whistleblowing.)

You know what's amazing? Schultz is the guy who tipped off the WSJ and whose grandfather was a major player in giving Theranos credibility. His family spends $400,000 in legal fees fighting Theranos. The lab tech, Erika Cheung, confronted with threats of legal action, gets an attorney she can barely afford and they tell her - hey, if you're a whistleblower, you're immune from legal action, and she writes an email detailing how Thernaos faked blood tests, diluted samples, etc. Wonder who got their money's worth given her email was the nail in Theranos' coffin.....

 

[Midnighter]

If you don't look or ask the right questions you are almost guaranteed not to find anything. I don't think people fully appreciate the genius of a system where everyone is "on their honor." Then they act shocked when something goes wrong and ignore fixing a critical problem.

When people tell you this is 'The Apple of healthcare' billionaires won't blink when throwing millions of dollars around to get in on the ground floor. What is the fix? Your implied suggestion is pragmatic, but anti-capitalism. So.........?

 

[LionJim]

You know what's amazing? Schultz is the guy who tipped off the WSJ and whose grandfather was a major player in giving Theranos credibility. His family spends $400,000 in legal fees fighting Theranos. The lab tech, Erika Cheung, confronted with threats of legal action, gets an attorney she can barely afford and they tell her - hey, if you're a whistleblower, you're immune from legal action, and she writes an email detailing how Thernaos faked blood tests, diluted samples, etc. Wonder who got their money's worth given her email was the nail in Theranos' coffin.....

Thanks. I will need to revisit. If you had asked me I would have said that Cheung and Schultz had been working together.

 

[91Joe95]

When people tell you this is 'The Apple of healthcare' billionaires won't blink when throwing millions of dollars around to get in on the ground floor. What is the fix? Your implied suggestion is pragmatic, but anti-capitalism. So.........?

There's nothing capitalistic about any agency that either doesn't do or can't do it's job properly. This Apple wow factor is immaterial to the FDA, and if anything should draw more FDA scrutiny. Apple took existing technologies and some would say improved them, but they didn't invent or revolutionize any product, which is what Theranos was claiming. That deserves a little more scrutiny than what they received.

 

[Midnighter]

There's nothing capitalistic about any agency that either doesn't do or can't do it's job properly. This Apple wow factor is BS, Apple took existing technologies and some would say improved them, but they didn't invent or revolutionize any product, which is what Theranos was claiming. That deserves a little more scrutiny than what they received.

So you’re for government intervention/oversight for an ‘in process’ technology? You don’t seem to understand what the FDA does or how it works. Pharma companies claimed their vaccines worked then asked for approval - not the other way around. Plenty of products for sale without FDA approval.

 

[91Joe95]

So you’re for government intervention/oversight for an ‘in process’ technology? You don’t seem to understand what the FDA does or how it works. Pharma companies claimed their vaccines worked then asked for approval - not the other way around. Plenty of products for sale without FDA approval.

I understand the FDA got involved. I understand the FDA got the answer wrong because they did little to no proper evaluation. I call that one definite failure point, and probably a second.

 

[Midnighter]

I understand the FDA got involved. I understand the FDA got the answer wrong because they did little to no proper evaluation. I call that one definite failure point, and probably a second.

Ask your pals in Congress to close this loophole:

The Energy and Commerce's Subcommittee on Health held a hearing in Washington today to discuss a controversial category of diagnostic tests called "lab developed tests" or LDTs. This category is basically a huge loophole that has been around for about 30 years (longer if you consider that regulation wasn't enforced before the loophole was coded into law in 1988); it gives companies that develop and conduct a diagnostic test in a single lab the ability to avoid submitting their tests to the FDA before using them on patients. The LDT category exists because research hospitals often need to modify commercial tests to suit patient needs. And because academic researchers tend to publish their results anyway, this form of regulation hasn't raised too many eyebrows.

You are way off the mark with blame here.

 

[91Joe95]

Ask your pals in Congress to close this loophole:

The Energy and Commerce's Subcommittee on Health held a hearing in Washington today to discuss a controversial category of diagnostic tests called "lab developed tests" or LDTs. This category is basically a huge loophole that has been around for about 30 years (longer if you consider that regulation wasn't enforced before the loophole was coded into law in 1988); it gives companies that develop and conduct a diagnostic test in a single lab the ability to avoid submitting their tests to the FDA before using them on patients. The LDT category exists because research hospitals often need to modify commercial tests to suit patient needs. And because academic researchers tend to publish their results anyway, this form of regulation hasn't raised too many eyebrows.

You are way off the mark with blame here.

Actually, you've identified a third failure point, possibly more, regarding congressional oversight and/or the laws in place, how they're written, etc. I certainly won't argue with what you have written. Find any catastrophic failure and you will often find multiple areas that failed. This notion that only one thing/person should be blamed ignores other underlying problems that lead to the failure in the first place. Focusing solely on Holmes ignores the other failures that could have/should have caught her deception earlier.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Jury in Elizabeth Holmes trial will resume deliberations Monday

The high-profile criminal trial of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes will officially stretch into a new calendar year Monday when the jury entrusted with determining her fate will continue deliberations after a short respite.

www.cnn.com

 

[Quint526]

Available on Netflix. Again, holy sh*t - how are people still conned by bright, idealistic, but completely full of sh*t, Steve Jobs wannabes? I crapped all over We Work (which was valued at nearly five times Theranos) for basically wanting to change the world by being landlords who offered beer on tap and a coffee bar, so at least with Theranos there is 'the thing' - 'the thing' is what is unique about your business that is a game changer. Offering beer and coffee in a communal working space is not new or ingenious - it's Regus + Bar + Coffee. That is not worth $49 billion dollars. Theranos, on the other hand, wanted to change the way we think about and access our own health care. The idea is simple - change the way blood is drawn and analyzed and make it so anyone at anytime can check their blood for potential disease/infection so if caught early enough, medical treatment would be more effective. No more waiting a year for bloodwork at the request of a doctor and no more outrageous cost - Theranos will put a machine in your home that will do all the work of a lab with much less cost and at your convenience. Great idea - but, difficult/near impossible to pull of with available technology. Still, she managed to surround herself with some powerful, wealthy, influential folks who bought into her idea (without ever seeing proof the machine could do what she said) and not only funded her, but protected her (with the biggest legal machine in the US) as needed. The lesson here folks is if the company isn't public, they aren't obligated to show anything - this is how We Work was able to con so many people for so long, and the same is true here. 'Just give us money - trust me, the machine works.' LOL. Unfortunately for Holmes and Theranos, they actually deployed machines to Walgreens in Arizona and people were getting wild results for their labs. So, it's not a victimless crime anymore and that is why she's on trial this week. Will be interesting to see what happens here - I give her credit for the idea, but she started to believe her own lies and at some point you're not able to keep 'faking it until you make it.' Especially when customers/patients are involved and life and death is on the line.

I mean - if anyone in a start-up is wearing a turtleneck 'uniform' every single day, steer clear.

Next on my docu-list is the two Fyre Festival disasters. I started the one on Netflix and the guy responsible for 'island/party logistics' is a self taught pilot (via Microsoft Pilot) who has to convince people spending millions on this event that the island they bought isn't able to hold the 10,000 people they sold tickets to (and can only support about 10% of that number). Oh, and they also got Kendall Jenner (and lots of other beautiful top models) to make an Instagram post promoting the festival - she is unique because for ONE post, she received $250,000.00. Wow.

I watched this documentary on HBO a few years ago. Wow is the word. With her deluded reality, the lack of true empathy, her ability to lie and manipulate and that disturbing faux voice, she is a sociopath.

It is truly amazing how well such a person (without a conscience or a true view of reality) can con educated and successful people. From memory, I believe that George Schultz actually worked against his own grandson in her favor. Unreal.

 

[Midnighter]

I watched this documentary on HBO a few years ago. Wow is the word. With her deluded reality, the lack of true empathy, her ability to lie and manipulate and that disturbing faux voice, she is a sociopath.

It is truly amazing how well such a person (without a conscience or a true view of reality) can con educated and successful people. From memory, I believe that George Schultz actually worked against his own grandson in her favor. Unreal.

Last part is true. She’s *that* convincing. But, the behavioral economist in the film illustrates how powerful the belief in doing something you perceive as good can be. The results of his die roll experiment were pretty stunning when comparing the power of a lie detector test on those who stand to gain personally versus those who believe they are acting altruistically.

 

[Quint526]

Last part is true. She’s *that* convincing. But, the behavioral economist in the film illustrates how powerful the belief in doing something you perceive as good can be. The results of his die roll experiment were pretty stunning when comparing the power of a lie detector test on those who stand to gain personally versus those who believe they are acting altruistically.

That is the real takeaway - - human behavior. In her strange alternative reality, she was the next world changing visionary. The judgment of her supporters/investors/advisors was clouded by the prospect of helping that visionary change the world.

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

 

[ApexLion]

That is the real takeaway - - human behavior. In her strange alternative reality, she was the next world changing visionary. The judgment of her supporters/investors/advisors was clouded by the prospect of helping that visionary change the world.

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

Crazy scale high right says yoda

 

[LionJim]

Verdict came in. Four guilty, four not guilty, three no verdicts.

 

[Midnighter]

Verdict came in. Four guilty, four not guilty, three no verdicts.

Could face up to 20 years in prison. My guess is she does fewer than three.

 

[LionJim]

Could face up to 20 years in prison. My guess is she does fewer than three.

Apparently it's up to 65 years.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/11/business/elizabeth-holmes-appeal/index.html

 

[rudedude]

Human beings fall for lots of insane crap without questioning it. Check out these two docs, which I found fascinating:





The one about The Mother God is just batsh** cray cray!

 

[Steve JG]

Available on Netflix. Again, holy sh*t - how are people still conned by bright, idealistic, but completely full of sh*t, Steve Jobs wannabes? I crapped all over We Work (which was valued at nearly five times Theranos) for basically wanting to change the world by being landlords who offered beer on tap and a coffee bar, so at least with Theranos there is 'the thing' - 'the thing' is what is unique about your business that is a game changer. Offering beer and coffee in a communal working space is not new or ingenious - it's Regus + Bar + Coffee. That is not worth $49 billion dollars. Theranos, on the other hand, wanted to change the way we think about and access our own health care. The idea is simple - change the way blood is drawn and analyzed and make it so anyone at anytime can check their blood for potential disease/infection so if caught early enough, medical treatment would be more effective. No more waiting a year for bloodwork at the request of a doctor and no more outrageous cost - Theranos will put a machine in your home that will do all the work of a lab with much less cost and at your convenience. Great idea - but, difficult/near impossible to pull of with available technology. Still, she managed to surround herself with some powerful, wealthy, influential folks who bought into her idea (without ever seeing proof the machine could do what she said) and not only funded her, but protected her (with the biggest legal machine in the US) as needed. The lesson here folks is if the company isn't public, they aren't obligated to show anything - this is how We Work was able to con so many people for so long, and the same is true here. 'Just give us money - trust me, the machine works.' LOL. Unfortunately for Holmes and Theranos, they actually deployed machines to Walgreens in Arizona and people were getting wild results for their labs. So, it's not a victimless crime anymore and that is why she's on trial this week. Will be interesting to see what happens here - I give her credit for the idea, but she started to believe her own lies and at some point you're not able to keep 'faking it until you make it.' Especially when customers/patients are involved and life and death is on the line.

I mean - if anyone in a start-up is wearing a turtleneck 'uniform' every single day, steer clear.

Next on my docu-list is the two Fyre Festival disasters. I started the one on Netflix and the guy responsible for 'island/party logistics' is a self taught pilot (via Microsoft Pilot) who has to convince people spending millions on this event that the island they bought isn't able to hold the 10,000 people they sold tickets to (and can only support about 10% of that number). Oh, and they also got Kendall Jenner (and lots of other beautiful top models) to make an Instagram post promoting the festival - she is unique because for ONE post, she received $250,000.00. Wow.

Had occasion to review their technology in form a research grant (Have NDA so cannot be super specific) But was clearly BS when I read it, defied the laws of nature and physics and biochemistry. The one professor from Stanford from very beginning said was BS and her assessment was pretty much the same as mine and others on review panel. But everyone wanted in on next big thing. And all along it was clearly nonsense. Microfluidics!! Indeed......

 

[rudedude]

 

[BobPSU92]

Available on Netflix. Again, holy sh*t - how are people still conned by bright, idealistic, but completely full of sh*t, Steve Jobs wannabes? I crapped all over We Work (which was valued at nearly five times Theranos) for basically wanting to change the world by being landlords who offered beer on tap and a coffee bar, so at least with Theranos there is 'the thing' - 'the thing' is what is unique about your business that is a game changer. Offering beer and coffee in a communal working space is not new or ingenious - it's Regus + Bar + Coffee. That is not worth $49 billion dollars. Theranos, on the other hand, wanted to change the way we think about and access our own health care. The idea is simple - change the way blood is drawn and analyzed and make it so anyone at anytime can check their blood for potential disease/infection so if caught early enough, medical treatment would be more effective. No more waiting a year for bloodwork at the request of a doctor and no more outrageous cost - Theranos will put a machine in your home that will do all the work of a lab with much less cost and at your convenience. Great idea - but, difficult/near impossible to pull of with available technology. Still, she managed to surround herself with some powerful, wealthy, influential folks who bought into her idea (without ever seeing proof the machine could do what she said) and not only funded her, but protected her (with the biggest legal machine in the US) as needed. The lesson here folks is if the company isn't public, they aren't obligated to show anything - this is how We Work was able to con so many people for so long, and the same is true here. 'Just give us money - trust me, the machine works.' LOL. Unfortunately for Holmes and Theranos, they actually deployed machines to Walgreens in Arizona and people were getting wild results for their labs. So, it's not a victimless crime anymore and that is why she's on trial this week. Will be interesting to see what happens here - I give her credit for the idea, but she started to believe her own lies and at some point you're not able to keep 'faking it until you make it.' Especially when customers/patients are involved and life and death is on the line.

I mean - if anyone in a start-up is wearing a turtleneck 'uniform' every single day, steer clear.

Next on my docu-list is the two Fyre Festival disasters. I started the one on Netflix and the guy responsible for 'island/party logistics' is a self taught pilot (via Microsoft Pilot) who has to convince people spending millions on this event that the island they bought isn't able to hold the 10,000 people they sold tickets to (and can only support about 10% of that number). Oh, and they also got Kendall Jenner (and lots of other beautiful top models) to make an Instagram post promoting the festival - she is unique because for ONE post, she received $250,000.00. Wow.

You had me at an office with a coffee bar.

 

[Midnighter]

You had me at an office with a coffee bar.

Moving to Silicon Valley to get investment for my new company, which will install coffee makers in cars and smartphones.