I had to. I just couldn’t resist. I’m no fan of celebrity gossip, and the whole Theranos debacle is certainly filling the rags. At the core though, I believe what is being questioned is not just the ethics of one individual, but the whole Silicon Valley culture. The cult of the unicorn. I must admit, the story has captured my attention deeply. I’ve read, listened, and watched most of the available material, and come away mostly unsure what to make of it all.
Will Elizabeth Holmes come out of this a psychopathic villain when the court proceedings are over and done with, or will she be labeled as a product of the Silicon Valley mentality? A glitch in the system. I’m going to split this into the good, the bad, and the ugly. Let’s examine.
Things she did according to the book
Surely there are some things we can learn from any solo founder that built a unicorn. You had to do something right along the way to play the game at the top level.
Purpose: Stanford dropout. Learned just enough to see the problem in Healthcare, and want to fix it. She had ideas and wasn’t afraid to speak her mind. She had confidence. It made a convincing story, and she spun it well. All through the journey, she talked about helping people not to have to say goodbye to loved ones. Transforming healthcare. The betterment of humanity. Ten points.
Personal brand: In addition to the above, she was 19 and female. Blonde hair. Deep baritone voice. Huge eyes that never blink. It just added character to the story. Later on, she adopted the wardrobe of Steve Jobs and his iconic black Issey Miyake turtleneck. She stood out. That matters in a sea of startup jocks.
Hypercredibility: The term was coined by Peter Diamandis to describe his first attempt at the X-Prize. With no actual money for the million dollar prize, he simply convinced the NASA director and several astronauts to show up to his launch event. Nobody would doubt his credibility after that. The money came. Over time, Elizabeth built towards having the odds stacked so far on her side that the pitch was irresistible. She started with a Stanford professor, her first mentor, and advisor. He was sold. He knew a guy, that knew a guy. Suddenly, she had Henry Kissinger and Steve Job’s right-hand…
