Elizabeth Holmes: What Was It Like Working With The Disgraced Theranos Founder?

Silicon Valley's infamous biotech entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes began serving an 11-year sentence in a Texas federal prison this week, marking what looks like the final act of Theranos' dramatic downfall.

Her company promised revolutionary blood-testing technology that was ultimately revealed to be non-existent. Patrick O’Neill, the former chief creative officer at Theranos, reflected on his experience working with Holmes in an as-told-to essay with Business Insider; here's what O'Neill's experience was like.

The Beginning: Holmes approached O’Neill’s advertising agency, TBWA/Chiat/Day, in 2012 with the desire to build the Theranos brand, mirroring the style of Apple Inc AAPL, a move that intrigued the O’Neill and his team.

For him, working with an unknown brand that aimed to disrupt the healthcare industry was an opportunity, not to mention the rarity of collaborating with a female founder in Silicon Valley.

Holmes, much like Apple founder Steve Jobs, preferred to work under a veil of secrecy, which wasn’t unusual to O’Neill. He described Holmes as a brilliant visionary whose quirks and relentless focus on her mission confirmed his positive image of her.

Eventually, Holmes invited O’Neill to join Theranos as chief creative officer in 2014, an offer he accepted, anticipating the chance to contribute to a company with an influential mission.

The first year at Theranos was a success, O’Neill said, from earning FDA approval to celebrating Holmes’ feature on the cover of Forbes as the youngest self-made female billionaire.

Though, he said things took a turn in 2015 when The Wall Street Journal issued its damning article criticizing Theranos’ lab tests.

In the ensuing chaos, O’Neill said Holmes spun a narrative of being targeted by the healthcare-industrial complex, the media and skeptics, a narrative O’Neill and many others bought into.

As time passed, a barrage of accusations became the new normal at the company, O'Neill said. Holmes would regularly address criticisms in company-wide town halls, maintaining a defiant stance and spinning each attack as an inevitable part of groundbreaking work.

The growing unease peaked when Theranos labs and wellness centers in Arizona shut down in July 2016, followed by sweeping layoffs in October, leaving O'Neill as one of the few remaining members of the creative team.

By 2017, O’Neill left Theranos, struggling to reconcile the idealized view he had of the company with the emerging reality.

Reflecting on his time at Theranos, the former chief creative officer said he learned to be more skeptical and developed a deep-seated distrust for the “fake it until you make it” mentality often propagated in Silicon Valley.

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