The Sedan Sex (2018)story of Elizabeth Holmes and the years-long fraud she perpetuated should be a big warning for all of Silicon Valley, according to the director of HBO's new Theranos documentary.
Alex Gibney, the director of The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley, says Silicon Valley's "fetishization of the entrepreneur" is the reason why Holmes was able to get away with her lies for so long.
By now, the story is well-known. After years of lying about what her blood testing startup was capable of, Holmes, who was once routinely compared to Steve Jobs, is staring down fraud charges from the SEC.
While Gibney's documentary explores the rise and fall of Holmes and Theranos, it's also a searing indictment of a startup culture that was so desperate for a fresh-faced visionary that it refused to question whether or not she could deliver in her promises.
SEE ALSO: Theranos HBO documentary trailer drops, and wow"It has to do with creating this myth of the genius CEO who could do everything and, 'Oh my God, they've got to be worth so much money because they're so smart, without them, everything would disappear.' It's just bullshit," he says.
Gibney says he knows this isn't a popular message in a culture obsessed with founders like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, who carefully hone their image as lone, visionary founders.
In Silicon Valley, Gibney says, there's a strong motivation to see Holmes as an "anomalous figure" who "doesn't really have anything to do with Silicon Valley."
"She's just a pure fraudster. And none of the key VCs ever invested in her and so forth and so on. She's just a freak. And that's just not true. And, you know, 'fake it till you make it' is very much baked in Silicon Valley and to American capitalism."
That idea that Holmes was operating under the idea of "fake it til you make it" is a big theme of The Inventor, even as you realize just how ridiculous it was. Some of the most incredible scenes in the film come from leaked footage taken inside Theranos meetings, giving viewers a firsthand look into how Holmes ran the company that was built on lies.
I won't spoil any of the details, but there are some truly ridiculous scenes that will be familiar to anyone who read Wall Street Journalreporter John Carreyrou's Theranos book Bad Blood.
"I think the takeaway for Silicon Valley, and the takeaway for the rest of us who may be invested in the idea of Silicon Valley ... is you know, if the attitude is fake it till you make it, our attitude should be trust but verify," Gibney says.
The Inventorpremieres March 18 on HBO.
Topics SXSW
TikTok ban looms in U.S. Here's the latest.
What is Vcore and How Does It Help with Overclocking?
Auburn vs. Creighton 2025 livestream: How to watch March Madness for free
#rateaspecies is basically Yelp reviews for zoo animals
How to unblock Xnxx for free
Why Building a Gaming PC Right Now is a Bad Idea, Part 1: Expensive DDR4 Memory
Here are the glorious proposed logos for Donald Trump's Space Force
Diseases from mosquitos and ticks have tripled in the U.S., CDC finds
Amazon Big Spring Sale 2025: Best air purifier deals from Dyson, Shark, LG, and more
The Kindle Scribe just dropped to its lowest price ever, but is it worth it?
How to Secure Your Android Phone and Get the Most Out of Smart Lock
Elon Musk says Mars ship could make first flights in 2019
Amazon Spring Sale 2025: Best deals on cleaning supplies
Tennessee vs. UCLA 2025 livestream: How to watch March Madness for free
Trump tells '60 Minutes' that climate change will 'change back again'
Analyzing Graphics Card Pricing: October 2018
Analyzing Graphics Card Pricing: October 2018
'Severance' puts a spin on the Orpheus and Eurydice myth in its Season 2 finale
Trump tells '60 Minutes' that climate change will 'change back again'
SpaceX lands its first rocket on West Coast ground: Watch
Star Wars is still mostly white dudes behind the cameraHow to customize your Facebook News Feed so it's less annoyingReddit shuts down Deepfakes subredditTwo features Instagram needs to fix its algorithmic timelineApple talks replacement battery demand and rebatesDetroit quickly reverses ban on Airbnb after backlashThis video of a debut author unwrapping her first novel is super adorableHow the cryptocurrency market will recover2 total strangers recreated a famous WWII photo at the Eagles paradeTesla fans: This adorable preschool diorama is for youThis is what happens when women ask their crushes out for Valentine's DayHow America got a Medieval Times queen before a female presidentThere will not be an international refugee team competing in the 2018 Winter OlympicsScientists reveal 10,000What you need to know to enjoy curling at the 2018 OlympicsDrake just paid for a bunch of people's groceries so, uh, they can thank him nowOculus premiered VR films at Sundance 2018 and they all have a problemAmazon's Prime Now can deliver groceries from Whole FoodsWinter Olympics include a Guinness World Record set by Intel’s dronesShould Evan Spiegel have turned down Mark Zuckerberg's $1 billion? Emma, Cover to Cover by Dan Piepenbring The Morning News Roundup for December 2, 2014 Who Are These Future Rock On Unpleasantness and Emoji Joseph Conrad on the Supernatural The Morning News Roundup for December 1, 2014 How William Eggleston Would Photograph a Baseball Game by Adam Sobsey Annotations by Paul Muldoon William Meredith’s “Parents” by Dan Piepenbring Let’s All Go Down to the Bridge and Get Our Teeth Pulled by Dan Piepenbring Writing Tennessee Williams’s Life The Morning News Roundup for November 20, 2014 On William Gass’s “In the Heart of the Heart of the Country” Warm Up with Our Winter Issue Visit Our Holiday Pop Douglas Coupland’s Gumhead The Morning News Roundup for November 7, 2014 The Morning News Roundup for November 17, 2014 The Poetry of Julia A. Moore All the President’s Turkeys by Dan Piepenbring
2.4697s , 8209.8046875 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【Sedan Sex (2018)】,Co-creation Information Network