The trial of one time high flying Elizabethg Holmes, the founder of Theranos makes me believe there’s a major fact checking breakdown not just in the financial press, but more importantly among check signing venture capitalists.
Did anyone associated with the exploding Theranos bother to ask fundamental questions?. High on my list is this” Theranos publicity juggernaut would have had everyone believe the miracle diagnostic technology would, would and should be used by the military on its wheeled, tracked and rotary wing vehicles. Right off the top, no one at theranos’ investors asked company reps what the power requirements for the system were. if anyone who has ever worked on a six-by truck, or armored personnel carrier, can tell you.: military vehicles aren't 12 volt systems, many have much higher voltage systems.
And no one at the funding VC firms or institutional investor level, did the appropriate due diligence needed to vet Theranos’ suitability for implementation.
But it doesn't end there: Forbes, Fortune and even the Wall Street Journal got caught up in the hype and the chase.
Most of all, I was surprised that Forbes punted fact checking. And Forbes had a legendary multi-tiered copy desk and army of drop dead serious fact checkers.Fortune had a similar reputation.
The Theranos steam roller should have been stopped at the investor and financial press levels. It wasn’t and the cost for everyone involved in this story should be at the level of “get out of town by sunset!.”
So: let’s say” you're in charge of an investment pool and want to grow them by buying into a venture capital firm’s fund?”
After Theranos, why would you ever trust any of Their investors' recommendations? Moreover, why in the name of Moses the Lawgiver would you ever hire anyone who worked for Theranos and specifically its marketing department-- including public relations? I believe there are several emerging technology categories that could produce another Theranos and hyper precision agriculture is on my list. There is one VC firm that has in its ranks an ag school (UC Davis) grad.
For a technology to gain a foothold in ag- it has to generate reproducible results over several crop cycles., One-time results on an experimental farm such as improvements in yields, reduced water usage, and lower harvest costs are part of those measurements unsubstantiated claims based on TED Talk fever dreams may not mean diddly squat.
In order to prevent another billion dollar technology Theranos Hindenburg explosion, venture capitalists need to open up their ranks to more specialists and cut back on legacy MBAs or the children of venture capitalists and the financial and technology press in all its forms need to reinvest in fact checking.--jim fiorbes on 8 September 2021
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