Theranos Blood Testing Device

The Theranos blood-testing device became the defining cautionary tale of Silicon Valley’s "fake it till you make it" culture, as Elizabeth Holmes claimed it could run hundreds of medical tests from a single drop of blood, but the technology never worked. Instead, it processed 90% of tests on conventional machines, causing false positive HIV or cancer results for patients and defrauding partners like Walgreens and Safeway. Holmes was convicted of fraud in 2022 and sentenced to 11 years, making it cheaper than #2’s Boeing 737 MAX in total cost (billions vs. tens of billions) but more damaging to public trust in startups. The scam’s $700 million valuation imploded after discovery.