FE: Ethics in entrepreneurship
Date Published: 6/15/2023
“You would have about the same luck flipping a coin as to whether your results were right or wrong. It was concerning to see this degree of failure; this was not typical for a normal lab.” ~Erika Cheung
In 2014, Erika Cheung made a discovery that would ultimately help bring down her employer, Theranos, as well as its founder, Elizabeth Holmes, who claimed to have invented technology that would transform medicine. The decision to become a whistleblower proved a hard lesson in figuring out how to do what is right in the face of both personal and professional obstacles. Ms. Cheung graduated from UC Berkeley with a dual degree in cellular and molecular biology and linguistics.
With candor and humility, Cheung shares her journey of speaking truth to power--and offers a framework to encourage others to come forward and act in the service of all. Cheung quit Theranos at the time and since released a TED Talk about the experience. => https://youtu.be/vMQlj9TZQfE
Key whistleblowers in the Theranos scandal + a stroke of luck
As seen in The Dropout, a Hulu series about Elizabeth Holmes and her company Theranos, both Ms. Cheung and Tyler Shultz were some of the whistleblowers at the company.
The two corroborated their stories and told their experiences to the Wall Street Journal in 2015 to reveal the truth behind Theranos.
Erika Cheung’s letter helped stopped the company from processing thousands of patients’ samples with faulty technology and incorrect diagnosis.
After working for biotechnology companies, she committed herself to grow the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Hong Kong and throughout Asia. She helped launch Betatron, a startup accelerator based in Hong Kong. She is also an advisor for a number of VC firms helping biotech and healthcare companies in emerging markets.
She is now the co-founder and executive director of Ethics in Entrepreneurship, a nonprofit with the mission of fostering ethical culture and systems for stakeholders in startup ecosystems (https://ethicsinentrepreneurship.org).
I hope you are inspired to align with ethics on your entrepreneur journey. Thank you for reading! We welcome your comments.
Akasha Lin
Akasha Garnier for #TheWishwall
Author, Brand Expert, Filmmaker
http://www.akashagarnier.com
#ShineThroughtheNoise
Photo: Ted Talks
Discover more gems: https://www.thewishwall.org/future-entrepreneurs.
In 2014, Erika Cheung made a discovery that would ultimately help bring down her employer, Theranos, as well as its founder, Elizabeth Holmes, who claimed to have invented technology that would transform medicine. The decision to become a whistleblower proved a hard lesson in figuring out how to do what is right in the face of both personal and professional obstacles. Ms. Cheung graduated from UC Berkeley with a dual degree in cellular and molecular biology and linguistics.
With candor and humility, Cheung shares her journey of speaking truth to power--and offers a framework to encourage others to come forward and act in the service of all. Cheung quit Theranos at the time and since released a TED Talk about the experience. => https://youtu.be/vMQlj9TZQfE
Key whistleblowers in the Theranos scandal + a stroke of luck
As seen in The Dropout, a Hulu series about Elizabeth Holmes and her company Theranos, both Ms. Cheung and Tyler Shultz were some of the whistleblowers at the company.
The two corroborated their stories and told their experiences to the Wall Street Journal in 2015 to reveal the truth behind Theranos.
Erika Cheung’s letter helped stopped the company from processing thousands of patients’ samples with faulty technology and incorrect diagnosis.
After working for biotechnology companies, she committed herself to grow the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Hong Kong and throughout Asia. She helped launch Betatron, a startup accelerator based in Hong Kong. She is also an advisor for a number of VC firms helping biotech and healthcare companies in emerging markets.
She is now the co-founder and executive director of Ethics in Entrepreneurship, a nonprofit with the mission of fostering ethical culture and systems for stakeholders in startup ecosystems (https://ethicsinentrepreneurship.org).
I hope you are inspired to align with ethics on your entrepreneur journey. Thank you for reading! We welcome your comments.
Akasha Lin
Akasha Garnier for #TheWishwall
Author, Brand Expert, Filmmaker
http://www.akashagarnier.com
#ShineThroughtheNoise
Photo: Ted Talks
Discover more gems: https://www.thewishwall.org/future-entrepreneurs.