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The Writing Jing Cast S01E05

Notes for Reference

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Conventional Blood Testing

I am Jing.
I have subjected
myself to blood tes
ts ever since I hav
e had issues with
blood sugar count.
How Theranos allegedly tests
blood?
Or at least according to their press release and marketing materials?
How Theranos allegedly tests blood?
How Theranos allegedly tests blood?
Behold! The Nanotainer!
The Force Behind Theranos

Elizabeth Holmes,
founder and chairp
erson, Theranos
How did she revamp her image?

Elizabeth Holmes,
founder and chairp
erson, Theranos
How did she revamp her image?
How did she revamp her image?
Is there really a need for
“The Next Steve Jobs”?
Yes and they would rather have it as a woman.
The demand is there.
And Holmes was there to meet the de
mand.
How far did Holmes go?

The black turtleneck

The green juice
The coffee ordered from Coupa Cafe
The secretive procedure
How secretive?
How secretive?

Non-Disclosure Agreements
– Plural because not only employees are
made to sign but journalists as well.
– Most of them were interviewed in the H
BO Documentary “The Inventor: Out fo
r Blood in the Silicon Valley”
From Nick Bilton of Vanity Fair
The secretive procedure reac
hed a breaking point once so
mebody committed suicide.
The employee's name is Ian Gibbons.
From Nick Bilton of Vanity Fair
From Nick Bilton of Vanity Fair
From Nick Bilton of Vanity Fair
It was at this point that Theran
os through Holmes was more
concerned about protecting th
eir “trade secret”.
To the point of harassing potential witnesses that will talk to journalists about
what is wrong with the technology.
The Two Worlds of Theranos

The Carpeted Wor

ld
– She is a goddes
s.
– She's a magazin
e cover girl.
– She's “The Next
Steve Jobs”
The Two Worlds of Theranos

The Tiled World

– It's a sinking shi
p
– Nothing works
– Everything is a li
e
What is the question again?
Hmm ....
Does this technology work?
If it does, Theranos will not be this secretive, right?
Well, the FDA approved them
for herpes ...
I mean blood testing for herpes, not herpes itself.
Approved for herpes ... testing
Article from John Carreyrou
No NDA? No interview

The HBO Documentary included audio cli

ps of conversations between David Boise
and the rest of the Theranos legal team a
nd John Carreyrou of The Wall Street Jou
rnal, pounding on the term
– “It is a trade secret”.
Criticism is unavoidable. But t
he way the company handled
feedback worsened the situati
on.
F bombs away!
Remember that party with Hol
mes jumping in the inflatable
house?
What happened before that?
They were dropping F bombs!
Almost parroting Steve Jobs
The HBO Documentary addre
ssed another role model that
Holmes followed.
Thomas Edison
According to the documentary ...

The patent that Edison applied for his pro

duct was about to expire when the techn
ology he intended to patent for finally wor
ked.
In other words, he beat the deadline.
Elizabeth Holmes did not beat
the deadline.
It did not work just like how her professors at Stanford told her.
Worse, her product was deem
ed “a threat to patient health”.
“immediate jeopardy to patient health and safety”
Corroborating HBO's documentary
Even the SEC chimed in.
Holmes and Balwani eventuall
y got indicted for fraud and co
nspiracy.
A federal grand jury indicted both for defrauding investors and patients alike.
Neither has apologized.
No apologies actually.
Lessons learned are more on
the part of aspiring start-ups i
nterested in the health and we
llness niche.
Holmes et al? Not really.
1st Lesson: Collaborate with k
nown professionals in your ch
osen niche.
It helps with the credibility.
2nd Lesson: Focus on the cus
tomers, not on your next mag
azine cover photo.
I learned it from Marie Foreo.
3rd Lesson: Damage control d
oes not have to include haras
sment.
Hello, burner phones.
4th Lesson: Using emotions is
okay granted you can back th
em up with facts.
It's called a narrative done right.
Banking on stories for your brand

Story time has become the best way to pr

esent your brand (or yourself if you are th
e brand)
In the same way that origin stories have s
haped the way we view our favorite super
heroes, origin stories should reflect who
we are today and what motivated us to b
e efficient virtual assistants.
Click the link on the descriptio
n box and learn how to be a vi
rtual assistant yourself.
Thank me later.
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