- Looking in the rear view mirror, author and New York Time columnist Randall Stross says the red flags were numerous surrounding discredited diagnostics firm Theranos and its relentlessly self-promoting chief Elizabeth Holmes.
- First, the company failed to elicit investments from the major Silicon Valley venture capital players despite numerous pitches/presentations. Professor Stross says it was turned down twice by GV (formerly Google Ventures) due to the apparent lack of substance (technical data) backing up its claims.
- Second, the company refused to publish in peer-reviewed journals, a tried-and-true way to credential the technology.
- Third, the make-up of the board was puzzling, since no member had experience in the diagnostics industry. Celebrity members, in this case former Secretary of State George Schultz and former National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, reinforced the perception that the constituency was for show instead of advancing the business.
- At least Ms. Holmes is famous, sporting the covers of Fortune, Forbes, Inc., and T: The New York Times Style Magazine. Maybe Rolling Stone is next.
- Diagnostics-related tickers: (NYSE:ABT)(OTCQX:RHHBY)(NYSE:TMO)