Coming from the world of finance, I see Holmes differently. I think she’s a symptom of an aging bull market, desperation in silicon valley for new ideas as well as too much faith and credulity about the valley’s ability to do *anything* it sets its collective mind to.

The sad part is the technology of comprehensive testing from a finger prick is not science fiction — it’s well within the realm of possibility. But the next group that tries to bring this idea to market is going to face a “diesel” problem. (Referring to the abysmal early diesels sold in America that seemed to have permanently soured the American consumer on what can be a much cleaner/efficient/better engine technology.)

Or worse: it will make people leery of bright young women with big ideas…

Biochemistry/genetics was the wrong tack for someone with no experience like Holmes, but there are dozens of similarly worthless startups that fizzle out every year, and they are of just as little substance. They do lack the conman’s shine that Holmes perfected and projected.

Holmes was exactly what she needed to be in order to dupe the most suckers out of startup capital. I don’t think the story is much more complicated than that.

The end of a bull market makes people do stupid things — like trusting billions in startup capital to teenagers with no real experience. We’ve been through this before and we’ll go through it again during the next late-stage bull market.