Lessons from Theranos: Marketing in the Age of Disruptors
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As former Silicon Valley darling Theranos continues to unravel, I have a confession to make: I was a Theranos believer. I first met Elizabeth Holmes, the now-embattled CEO of Theranos, at TEDMED 2014 in San Francisco. I followed coverage of her company’s rise to fame, marked by covers and feature articles in top business and tech media.
Like many others, I was captivated by her vision of bringing radical transparency to one of the old guards of healthcare — the blood test. Her no-nonsense, Steve Jobs-esque persona was a sign that maybe the Silicon Valley approach could finally shake things up in healthcare. Here was a woman with an irresistible back story — a whip-smart Stanford dropout who defied the odds to build a $9 billion company from scratch. Want to know what gets Silicon Valley all weak in the knees? Here it is: a hugely disruptive (read: lucrative) idea with a great origin story.
Fueled by enthusiasm from the Valley and the promise of innovation, vanguards of the healthcare industry including Walgreens and Cleveland Clinic struck partnerships with Theranos, lending further legitimacy to the company. But by late 2015, the carefully crafted story began to unravel.
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