Hulu's "The Dropout"

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Has anyone else been watching this?

The show may not be for everyone but it's about a healthcare technology startup called Theranos once valued at 10 billion. It wasn't until the Wall Street Journal published a story revealing all the fraud that was going on behind the scenes to deceive investors including, Walgreens-who put up 100m.

In a nutshell, Theranos pitched the idea that they could perform a blood test with just a drop of blood vs the traditional venipuncture (no more needles) method. They claimed they could perform 240 tests with just that single pinprick and screen for hepatitis, cholesterol, and even detect early stages of cancer. The testing was done using their proprietary machines (which never worked and classified as a trade secret). They ended up outsourcing many blood tests or drawing blood the old fashioned way using Siemens machines.

It was just starting to go downhill while I was in business school so we discussed it a lot.

Amanda Seyfried plays the CEO, Elizabeth Holmes and she nails her mannerisms down to the fake deep voice. Holmes met with Biden when he was Vice President and he was given a tour of her Silicon Valley headquarters. She also met former President Clinton to discuss her company which she founded at just age 19 after dropping out of Stanford.

If Seyfried is not nominated for a Golden Globe then something is really wrong with the industry.

The Dropout is streaming now on Hulu and the finale is April 7th. It is a remarkable story.