The world would like to remember the conviction of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes as a cautionary tale of Silicon Valley hubris. The collapse of her blood-testing company was hailed as both the end of tech's "fake it till you make it" culture and of the dubious cultural phenomenon of the
Silicon Valley has learnt little from Elizabeth Holmes
This is why Theranos and the court case against Holmes has triggered a weird, ironic line of merchandise. Online you can buy T-shirts with Holmes's face printed on, declaring her "My #girlboss".
"Girlboss" was coined in 2014 by Sophia Amoruso, founder of the ecommerce company Nasty Gal. The term was once a popular way to describe an entrepreneurial form of feminism that simultaneously paraded as activism. Leigh Stein, who satirised female founder culture in her novel Self Care, described the girlboss as not just a mindset but an aesthetic too. It was the Instagram-pretty side of millennial hustle culture. Holmes did not spend enough time talking about female empowerment to fit the girlboss mould perfectly. But she was white, American and fond of inspirational platitudes. In 2015 she told Glamour magazine, "I am living proof that it's true that if you can imagine it, you can achieve it."
Yet her conviction for defrauding investors cannot be held responsible for killing off the idea of the girlboss. Stories of mismanagement at other female-led companies had already put an end to the notion that millennial female founders create more ethically minded companies. It turns out that being young and female does not automatically translate to better workplace cultures.
Amoruso's company was sued by an employee who claimed they were sacked when they became pregnant. The company then filed for bankruptcy. Audrey Gelman, once held up as a girlboss exemplar and known for both her friendship with actress Lena Dunham and creating female members' club The Wing, resigned following complaints over the company's treatment of black workers.
Last year, the New York Times wrote that female founders live in the shadow of Holmes's failure. But in tech, they were already sidelined. Of the US start-ups that received venture capital funding last year, 6.5 per cent had an all-female founder team, according to data from PitchBook. The number with at least one female founder is about 25 per cent. Funding volumes have jumped overall, but the proportion of companies with women in charge has not.
Nor has there been a noticeable increase in caution. Not only have unprofitable tech companies continued to gain funding, some start-ups with little or no revenue have managed to list on markets. Making big claims remains the starting point for new companies. High-risk tolerance is still needed by early-stage investors. For the sector to power on, it seems Holmes must be regarded as the exception.
Written by: Elaine Moore
© Financial Times