2/26 (Tue.)Theranos,fraud blood testing case(Christine)

[Christine]

Hi Guys,

The topic for 26.02.19 would be Theranos, the famous fraud blood testing case happened last year. I thought this kind of story would just been seen in films. I couldn't believe it actually happen in reality. There were lots of questions I had when I just heard of the story. I believe that you have your own point of views to share with us too.

Materials for your reference :
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/15/health/theranos-elizabeth-holmes-fraud.html

https://www.wsj.com/articles/blood-testing-firm-theranos-to-dissolve-1536115130




Questions for discussion :
Session One :
1. What do you think of this incident ? Is it a well-organized fraud ?
2. Did Elizabeth Holmes really has a dream or did she intend to deceive the investors just to become a billionaire ?
3. How did she fool those famous investors successfully ?

Session Two :
4. There were scandals related to Food Safety in the past. Do you think if there is any difference between these incidents ?
For example, in terms of moral issue ?
5. Do you think Elizabeth Holmes has show any regret about this fraud ?
6. Is there any way to prevent similar frauds from happening in the future ?

聚會日期：列於該貼文主題內
聚會時間：當天請準時於 6:45 pm 到達 ~ 約 9:30 pm 左右結束
星期二聚會地點：丹堤濟南店
地址、電話：台北市濟南路三段25號 地圖 (02) 2740-2350
捷運站：板南線 忠孝新生站 3 號出口
走法：出忠孝新生站 3 號出口後，沿著巷子(忠孝東路三段10巷)走約 2 分鐘，到了濟南路口，左轉走約 2 分鐘即可看到。
最低消費： 80 元

注意事項：
1. 文章是否需要列印請自行斟酌，但與會者請務必自行列印 Questions for discussion。
2. 與會者請先看過影片或閱讀過文章，並仔細想過所有的問題，謝謝合作！

給新朋友的話：
1. 請事先準備 2~3 分鐘的英語自我介紹；會議結束前可能會請你發表 1~2 分鐘的感想。
2. 請事先閱讀文章以及主持人所提的討論問題，並事先寫下自己所欲發表意見的英文。
3. 全程以英語進行，參加者應具備中等英語會話能力，對任一討論問題，能夠以 5 到 10 句英文表達個人見解。
4. 在正式加入之前，可以先來觀摩三次，觀摩者亦須參與討論。正式加入需繳交終身會費 NT$1,000。

[Iris Wu]

I was writing the following paragraph and thinking to post on our LINE Book Reading group:

• "If you have the bandwidth to accommodate a couple of books in your 2019 ideal throughput, here is the first one that you can work on and I am pretty sure you won’t regret it. The book title is: “Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup”. It is one of the five books Bill Gates recommended for 2018."

Then I saw Christine's posting. It's wonderful to discuss this "incredible/unbelievable " story in the meeting, but the book was nicely-written, well-organized and very easy to read. The story and the characters were unfolded in a way that once you started the reading, you had hard time to put it down until you finished it. So, if you have the capacity to read the book, I think it's really worth reading, but I certainly understand once we study the excerpt of the story and discuss in the meeting, we may be less motivated to read the book.

[Christine]

Hi Iris,

Long time no see ! It's great to know that you recommend the book "Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup”. As you mentioned that the book was nicely-written, well-organized and very easy to read, so I feel it would be very interesting to read it even though the topic would be discussed in the coming Tuesday.

BTW, will there still be a reading group this year ? If so, hope I would be able to join and read at least one book this year.

Look forward to seeing you !

[Iris Wu]

First, it’s great to have our president joining the book reading group!

For Theranos case, some people think Elizabeth Holmes was just a practitioner of “fake it till you make it” and the fall of the company was simply because it got caught prematurely, if given more time, she may make it. For people holding that thoughts, I would suggest they read the book.

The investigative journalist, John Carreyrou, spent three years conducting ex-employee interviews, detailing the company’s tactics to intimidate anyone who could potentially be a threat to their fraud. In one case, it resulted in an employee's suicide.

I don’t pretend to understand Elizabeth Holmes’ mental state, but same as most people, I don’t think she intended to create the long con when she dropped out of Stanford. It was just things did not go as she wished for and she lied and lies piled up and eventually she seemed to become a con artist. Unfortunately another even more vicious and voracious character, Sunny Balwani, came to her life and business. They really “completed” each other!

Over-promising or “Fake it till you make it” is not uncommon in high-tech industry, but a piece of business software or a game app missing a promised feature is very different from a medical diagnostic device generating false outcomes. As the author of “Bad Blood” said, “Holmes fits the clinical profile, but there’s no question that her moral compass was badly askew.”

[tashi]

After checking some information on the internet, I am confused by how she convinced those professionals and politician to believe her. It seems that the company never owns a really cutting edge technology. Or maybe they are not deceived or at least is not that innocent, they just don't care and it's part of the American way? Hence that's why she doesn't feel guilty and she might be thinking "This is simply how the world works."

Here I also quote a few lines from the movie "Big Short":

====
People want an authority to tell them how to value things, but they choose this authority not based on facts or results. They choose it because it seems authoritative and familiar.
====

[Christine]

Thanks a lot for all of the participants. I like and enjoy the discussion, everyone expressed their thoughts and comments clearly.

Happy to had a good time with you guys !

Participants : Winston, David Jr., Miller, Laura, Alice, Shirley, Holly, Iris, Sabrina, Steve, Sherry, Kat, Wen-han, Timmy, Chris, Felicia, Julian, Luis
Li Fang (New comer), Christine (Host)

[Luis Ko]

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/06 ... ew-company

the link above is about what i mentioned to my table members that Elizabeth Holmes is trying to start a New company. furthermore, guess what makes people even sadder is the sentence, "Silicon Valley is notoriously full of founders who exaggerate, dupe investors and the media, and may even outright lie to Congress, often getting away with their deceit.". it happens not just in Silicon Valley, it's sad to say that it happens everywhere. it's sad this is the ugly underbelly of capitalist democracy, isn't it?

[Christine]

Thanks for the sharing from Luis. It's astonishing to know that she is trying to start a new company. I hope she will really get punished for what she has done in the end.