‘Selling a promise’: what Silicon Valley learned from the fall of Theranos

The company's collapse has changed the startup environment, but some say the industry still hasn't faced a true reckoning'

A charismatic young leader, billions of dollars in valuations and a technology that promised to change the world but failed to deliver: the meteoric rise and fantastic fall of the medical tech startup Theranos has been seen by many as an indictment of the hype-train attitude of Silicon Valley.

Nearly 20 years after Theranos's launch, its CEO, Elizabeth Holmes, is headed to trial, charged with defrauding clients and investors. Silicon Valley is facing a public that's wary of its methods and intentions - but the verdict is still out on whether startup culture has fundamentally changed.