Anatomy of a conwoman: Elizabeth Holmes and the startup company Theranos

[okie john]

Few things are sadder than a con artist drinking their own kool-aid. I wonder, though, if she had tried to con people with something that wasn't in the medical field, if she could have pulled off stalling things until she had a semi-workable product.

That's SOP in the tech field. Talk about vaporware, then attract enough investment to bring it to life.


Okie John

[Joe in PNG]

A con's first victim may well be themselves.

[RevolverRob]

I can't understand how someone like her doesn't realize that she is not going to get away with it. The writing was on the wall with this one long before she was brought up on charges. There was ample evidence that she was looking at trouble before she was charged. She should've wired $10 million+ to the Cayman Islands, and from there had it wired to some country where the US doesn't have an extradition treaty, and then left the country. I understand that Serbia is nice this time of the year (unless of course you are a Moslem, and Albanian,

Samoa is nice year round.

I feel like that's a sensible step in the process. You get enough money going that you can skim a sizeable chunk out, without it really being noticed. That's your pre-established escape network. And then you get out if things start to head south.

I just don't get it...Fight or Flight is a fundamental instinct - you should always have a plan for both.

In looking at the HBO documentary on her her and reading various things, I get the impression that she was delusional and actually believed her own lies.

That's sad.

[Wise_A]

Yup. She also has the crazy eyes.

Attachment 18015

Blindfolds are a thing.

I believe we've covered this.

That said, if I've learned one thing from the last two years of being a secretary for the po-po, it's this: don't put your dick in crazy.

[WobblyPossum]

Samoa is nice year round.

Samoa is an American territory. That’s pretty much the opposite of “no extradition treaty.”

ETA: so, I didn’t realize Samoa and American Samoa were two different things. Please, ignore me because I’m an idiot.

[ccmdfd]

Who here has read Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup? The author John Carreyou is a fantastic investigative journalist and did a great job shedding light on the inner workings of Theranos and its day to day operations.

I also recommend the podcast "The Dropout" which focuses more on Holmes as a person. It's from 2019 but they just released a bunch of new episodes for 2021
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas...t/id1449500734

Thanks for the recommendation of Bad Blood. It's a great read/listen.

I'm about 2/3 through. I'm amazed how many people knew that this was all a sham, but when they brought it to the attention of those who could have stopped it, it went nowhere. She had really smitten them.

Love the part about Joe's visit to the lab.