“Fake it until you make it” is one of the dumbest and most pernicious sayings circulating.
I’m currently reading …
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou.
I’m one-third in and it seems “fake it until you make it” was what Elizabeth Holmes was doing all along.
But there was one other thing. A quote I’ve cited more than once (here and here).
This makes me sick …
One day, as Justin walked into her office to update her on a project, Elizabeth motioned him over excitedly, saying she wanted to show him something. She pointed to a nine-inch-long metal paperweight on her desk. Etched on it was the phrase, “What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?” She’d positioned it so the words were facing her and clearly found it inspiring.
Boldfaced emphasis added by me.
So wrapped up in herself since she was a child, I doubt she ever knew the quote was from — or at least popularized by — Robert Schuller.
HBO has a program about Theranos coming up. I’ll be watching.
The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley (2019) | Official Trailer | HBO
Previously here:
Mike Cane's Atomic Supermen 