With the breakdown of the crypto-exchange platform FTX coming to a crash, I've unconsciously become interested in startups that have crashed in the past, most especially the ones referred to as unicorns, that is startups with a billion-dollar net worth. While FTX had a net worth of $32 billion dollars before its crash, the new startup I came across in my search of crashed startups, known as THERANOS had a net worth of $9 billion dollars.
THERANOS is a startup founded by Elizabeth Holmes, which developed the machine with the name EDINSON and yes it was named after the renowned American Inventor called THOMAS EDINSON. The startup gave their machine this name probably because they believe in the Edinson quote on failure ' I've not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.' As I discovered this in my research on the Wikipedia page.
Holmes reportedly named the device "Edison" after inventor Thomas Edison, stating, "We tried everything else and it failed, so let's call it the Edison." This was likely because of a well-known Edison quote: "I've not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."
Wikipedia Page
The machine was built on the notion that it would make blood testing a whole lot better but unfortunately, it could not. Despite being a unicorn with a valuation of $9 billion dollars, it still couldn't do what its main purpose was, making blood testing better. Holmes stood on the fact that it was all someday going to work and since she is a strong believer in Edinson who kept on trying harder and harder until he could finally make the bulb work, it made the story a whole lot more interesting. Despite the failures she encountered along the way as a founder, she kept on persevering until she gets it right and delivers on her promise.
With her nerd looks and the character imitation of her idol, Steve Jobs, it became easier by the minute to find her intriguing. She displays so much respect for her idol that even when interviewed during a press conference where they made mention of her style of dressing, involving many black suits of the same style displayed in her wardrobe for purpose of maintaining the look she desires. Investors began to flock in and since the startup was situated in Silicon Valley, it wasn't hard for it to get more and more investors. Well as the story goes, her startup didn't just crash but she has also been sentenced to 11 and some months in jail. But she was not sentenced to jail just because the startup crashed but on the count of fraud. The US Justice system found the Theranos Founder guilty of defrauding investors of their money knowing fully well her machine wasn't doing its job and she was not the only one found guilty, and so was her ex-lover.
Her journey to become the CEO of a unicorn focused on issues in the health sector began right from her days at the Ivy League university, Stanford where she studied electrical and chemical engineering, although she dropped out at some. HBO did a documentary on her story starting from when she discovered the idea for the machine, Edinson titled The Inventor which I enjoyed watching, but I am still yet to watch the Hulu series titled The Dropout, which I will still watch in due time.
According to the documentary and interviews with workers at Theranos, things started to fall apart when people began to question the machine, most especially their staff. Also, in the documentary, a biochemist who worked at Theranos noticed something was actually wrong when the company was more focused on it its media publicly than the actual work they claim to do. Questions were left unanswered as it was hard to give a valuable response. Although money was invested severely into the company's projects, returns are yet to be made as cash has been lost.
Although I feel Elizabeth Holmes was on to something which was why she could get this far, even into becoming a Billionaire with a net worth of $4.5 billion dollars, but she might have gotten lost in all the fame, money, and glamour that came with the billionaire lifestyle. Well, one could never really know, since she has failed on her promise and she has been given a due date of April 27th, 2023 as the day of her pickup for prison life.
A lot is really going on in the world of tech and tech companies but I must say that one needs to keep track of these events cause they sum up a big story. Years ago, who would have predicted the renowned crypto exchange FTX would be down on its knees, with zero valuation or even minus, who can tell?
When startups can no longer solve the problem it was set up to do, they become completely useless and irrelevant, this I have come to realize. It will only take a while but in the end, the hidden truth will surely come to the limelight.
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I am @samostically,I love to talk and write about chess because i benefited alot from playing chess. I love to review books and movies too!.I believe life is all about staying happy and maintaining peace.
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