Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Tim Draper, One of Theranos' First Investors, Says He Would Back Elizabeth Holmes Again as Chief Science Officer (theoutline.com)

Posted by msmash on from the you've-got-a-friend-in-me dept.

An anonymous reader shares a report: Despite all her alleged crimes, Elizabeth Holmes, the former CEO of the biotech company Theranos, can rest assured she still has someone who'll go to bat for her. At a panel discussion on growing startup ecosystems at the Montgomery Summit yesterday, Bloomberg reporter Sarah McBride asked Tim Draper -- a venture capitalist, enthusiastic Bitcoin supporter, and one of Theranos' first investors -- whether he would back Holmes again. Draper responded to the question by saying, "I'd back her as chief science officer, not CEO. Good question."

9 of 120 comments (clear)

  1. The ruling class stick together by rsilvergun · · Score: 4, Insightful

    wish I could say the same about my class.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re:The ruling class stick together by rudy_wayne · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Chief Science Officer? She dropped out of college at 19 and has no science background. What a moron.

      That was all part of the Theranos scam. Nobody on their board of directors or in top management had any science or medical background.

  2. Ethics (or lack thereof) by tomhath · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In other words, he only cares about making money. Putting people in danger isn't a concern.

    1. Re:Ethics (or lack thereof) by AntronArgaiv · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The woman spent two or three semesters at Stanford, then decided she knew all she needed to know.

      I wouldn't trust her to science her way out of a paper bag.
      When I graduated I knew just enough engineering to know what I didn't know. And that's after getting a Masters. I learned a lot more on the job, by watching more experienced people and asking questions. Something I doubt Miss Know-it-all has ever done.

    2. Re:Ethics (or lack thereof) by gravewax · · Score: 4, Insightful

      A brilliant CEO doesn't commit blatant fraud that leads to the destruction of their company. She was a brilliant conman.

    3. Re:Ethics (or lack thereof) by ceoyoyo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      While reading your post I got to "when I graduated I knew just enough engineering to know what I didn't know" and was just about to tell you that you must have been an unusually gifted undergraduate.

      When you come out of undergrad you think you know everything. Grad school teaches you that you really don't know anything. A postdoc teaches you that nobody else does either.

  3. Her lying about science was the problem by SmaryJerry · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How could you ever trust her to tell the truth on her research again?

  4. There's a family connection by real+gumby · · Score: 4, Informative

    Holmes is a childhood friend of his daughter's, or daughter of his childhood friend or something like that, so he has known her all her life. I can't see how she could have been funded any other way.

    Though this is america where people don't give jobs or security clearences or such to their relatives and friends.

    1. Re:There's a family connection by _merlin · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I think you missed the sarcasm. The US likes to pretend to be a meritocracy, while still having these "old boys networks", political families like the Bushes, and every other kind of nepotism and cronyism.