What history teaches fraudsters Elizabeth Holmes, who 15 years deceiving investors and politicians

Elizabeth Holmes Theranos founded the company in 2003. Its goal is to create a portable device for the collection and analysis of blood. According to the plan, to obtain correct results devaysu needed only a couple of drops of blood. On paper, it looked very nice, and many famous investors, including media mogul Rupert Murdoch, believedHere Are The Theranos Investors Who Lost Millions in it. However, something went wrong: the device gaveTheranos screwed up legit blood test innovations for everybody inaccurate results, and arranged for investorsTHERANOS ACCUSED OF RUNNING FAKE TESTS FOR INVESTORS Staged show on which it worked perfectly. In the end, threatens Elizabeth HolmesElizabeth Holmes indicted on wire fraud charges, steps down from Theranos up to 20 years in prison and a fine of 250,000 US dollars.

Then recall the well-known on the internet saying: "meme funny, but the situation is terrible." But even from this history can be learned some useful lessons.

1. Before you start a new business, learn theory

Medicine and biology - the complex sphere. They can not understand swoop, experimenting in his garage. No matter how genius you are, we need a serious theoretical training, which is not available on-line courses or videos on YouTube. And most important, in the case of your product depends on the health of people.

Elizabeth Holmes, and many others10 ultra-successful millionaire and billionaire college dropouts known entrepreneurs, has thrown study at university, and she did not have the profile of medical education. Nevertheless, she decided to develop medical startup and a revolution in this field. She did not listen to the experts, who claimedAnalysis: Why Medical Lab Experts Were Always Skeptical of TheranosIt is impossible to obtain accurate results in such a small amount of blood collected.

Before you start a new project or business, carefully study the theory. More often than not one of enthusiasm and desire to change the world is not enough.

2. Think critically

Let's spend a little experiment: go to your bookshelf and open any book on motivation and personal growth. Most likely, there will be tips like "Believe in yourself", "Do not listen to critics," "Follow your dreams" and so on. We can not say that this is definitely bad advice. Still, listening to each Hayter - to his own detriment. However, quite to disable the voice of reason is also not worth it.

Even if all delighted with your ideas, do not let that cloud your mind. At such times, always remember the tale of the naked king, in which the court sycophants feared said his monarch that he had been deceived, and no invisible outfit for him no, he just walks naked.

Elizabeth Holmes The problem was that she did not see or did not want to see the obvious problems with her business. In this case, the media praisedThis CEO is out for blood her as a brilliant entrepreneur and "Steve Jobs in a skirt". Therefore, do not plug your inner critic and occasionally listen to it. Self-reflection within reason no one has yet done much harm. It is possible that your actions and intentions is not so good as it seems.

3. Do not manipulate people

Elizabeth Holmes incredibly charismatic man. This was confirmed by all who worked with her or somehow interacted. Including John KeriruReporting on Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes - journalist of The Wall Street Journal, who played a crucial role in exposing Theranos.

Do not get us wrong: in charisma and credibility there is nothing criminal. Bad when you abuse it. Fascinated by you people will sooner or later see the light and realize that they were deceived. Or, as in the case of Elizabeth Holmes, find a person who will not give in to your manipulation and expose you.

4. Correctly choose their environment

In Theranos reigned not the healthiest atmosphere: all the experts who spoke against Holmes, criticized her or put under the slightest doubt about its ideas, immediately dismissed6 of the most fascinating revelations from 'Bad Blood' on Theranos debacle and Elizabeth Holmes. Naturally, this situation attracts various adventurers.

One such person was Sonny Balvani, former executive director of the company. he is completelyThe Dropout 'Part 4: Theranos wins huge backing, rises in value to $ 9 billion by 2014I did not understand in medicine, but it is constantly interfered in the work of specialists. In addition, with the staff he has acted as a natural slave ownerTheranos former president Sunny Balwani role in the company: Its main management tools have been bullying and humiliation. Naturally, this management leads to an outflow of the most talented and adequate personnel.

5. Learn to time to admit their mistakes

Sounds like a truism. So it is, but if the early stages of Elizabeth Holmes admitted that its device for the collection of blood samples is not functioning properly and gives false results, things could have happened differently. Perhaps she would have found for yourself new business idea and applied all their enthusiasm into it. But this did not happen.

Excessive pride and obstinacy are the reason that it is now unlikely she will be able to do business in the future. No investor will not take it seriously.

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Elizabeth Holmes was a real boon for US media: Girl throws university in 19 years and comes to change the world. Its rise and fall became excellent lessons for the whole industry startaperskoy Silicon Valley: When something looks too good, it probably is not true.

Useful in this story can benefit not only businessmen and journalists, but also each of us. You should always properly assess their strength, Correctly choose the surroundings and, in the end, even if you screw up, do not be afraid to admit defeat.

If you are interested in this topic, and we are confident that this is the case, be sure to watch a documentary from HBO The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon ValleyAnd read John Keriru Bad Blood book: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup.