Theranos was founded in 2003 by Elizabeth Holmes to develop blood testing technology using very small samples. Holmes raised over $700 million from prominent investors to develop the Edison machine, which she claimed could perform comprehensive blood tests using only a single drop of blood. However, in 2015 the Wall Street Journal reported that Theranos was not using its proprietary technology and was providing inaccurate results. Theranos voided two years of blood test results and eventually shut down in 2018 amidst fraud charges against Holmes.

1. 2019 Fall: Creative Founder
Theranos
Mikayla Zhang

2. Theranos
✤ Theranos was a privately held
health technology corporation.
✤ The company's original name
was "Real-Time Cures”.
✤ Founded in 2003 by Elizabeth
Holmes.

3. Early Funds
✤ Holmes started raising money for Theranos from prominent investors
like Oracle founder Larry Ellison and Tim Draper, the father of a
childhood friend and the founder of prominent VC firm Draper
Fisher Jurvetson.
✤ Those prominent investors and the media hyped Theranos as a
breakthrough in the large blood-testing market which brought more
investors.
✤ Theranos raised more than $700 million.

4. Product/Market Fit
✤ Holmes filed a patent application for "Medical device for analyte
monitoring and drug delivery.”
✤ This is a wearable device that would administer medication, monitor
patients' blood, and adjust the dosage as needed.
✤ In September 2013, Theranos partnered with Walgreens to offer in-
store blood tests at more than 40 locations.
✤ In March 2015 the Cleveland Clinic announced a partnership with
Theranos to test its technology in order to decrease the cost of lab
tests.

7. Crises/Fail
✤ In October 2015, The Wall Street Journal reported that Theranos was
using traditional blood testing machines to run its tests instead of
the company's Edison devices, and that the company's Edison
machines might provide inaccurate results.
✤ In May 2016, Theranos announced that it had voided two years of
results from its Edison device.
✤ In March 2018 the US Securities and Exchange Commission charged
Theranos, claiming they had engaged in an “elaborate, years-long
fraud”.

8. Exit
✤ Bankruptcy.
✤ Theranos shutdowns on September 4, 2018.

9. Today’sTheranos
✤ On June 15, 2018, Holmes were indicted on multiple
counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire
fraud.
✤ The trial will commence on August 2020.

10. “Molecule”
Problem
Customer Product
People don’t like the
pain of drawing blood.
Someone whose body
needs a blood test.
Edison Machine: Just
require one drop of blood.

11. Thank you.

12. Sources
✤ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theranos
✤ Hartmans, Avery. “The Rise and Fall of Elizabeth Holmes, Who Started Theranos
When She Was 19 and Became the World's Youngest Female Billionaire but Will
Now Face a Trial over 'Massive Fraud' in July 2020.” Business Insider, Business
Insider, 26 July 2019.