Elizabeth Holmes, 30 year old self-made billionaire woman

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i don't think jobs and woz came from affluent families.

Jobs wasn't poor if he was adopted and went to Reed. Weren't his parents lawyers? Not sure about Woz's background.

[Anonymous]

Think Andy Grove was a poor immigrant who went onto become the CEO of Intel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hey Debbie Downer, her father is a fed and her mother is a congressional staffer! Not exactly uber-rich, especially by DCUM standards.

"Her father, Christian Holmes IV, has devoted most of his life to public-minded government service–disaster relief in Africa, international development projects in China, environmental work in this country–and is currently the global water coordinator for the U.S. Agency for International Development. He met Elizabeth’s mother, Noel, on Capitol Hill, where she worked as a congressional committee staffer."

He went on to work in the private sector when they moved to Texas. He didn't remain a Fed.

So none of you actually read the article? Her family are descendants of the Fleishmann yeast fortune. Educated parents working in civil device and likely an affluent family going way back. She is doing great meaningful work, but not self made in I sorry. On top of the great great grandfather who was a surgeon and World War I hero. She is the latest on a long line of a successful family, but her accomplishments are mostly a result of upbringing and likely resources few of us can match.

I'm the OP and a guy who is very passionate about issues of opportunity, but I can't agree with the last sentence. Even for her pedigree, her accomplishments are ridiculous. 80 patents, 100+ co-patents, her business maturity at such a young age (there are videos of her at age 25 talking to stanford students regarding importance of cash flow in building a business....very different from what most young tech founders think about or say) - I know lots who went to HYPS that aspired/gunned to just make a lot of money while minimizing risk via finance or consulting or law.

Then again, I'm around my age so maybe i just want to get in her pants (though a number of her youtube videos kind of give off the vibe that she bats for the other team) but no I think her accomplishments are a lot to do with her with 20% to do with her background.

Debbie Downer here. 20% is... a lot. That 20%, at the least, is the difference between a Stanford grad at an investment bank and a Stanford grad with extraordinary accomplishments.

I don't want to minimize her or her accomplishments. But I'm wondering, as a society, are all of our extraordinary children given at least some of the opportunities to go as far as they can? And how much are we losing if they aren't?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Think Andy Grove was a poor immigrant who went onto become the CEO of Intel.

i think people are talking about founders. i haven't looked up bob noyce and gordon moore's backgrounds - i'm pretty sure they were middle class types.

I am pretty bleeding heart progressive but i'm not going to chalk up this girl's achievements to her background because there are tons with her background (or better) that relatively piss it away or take the easy path.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hey Debbie Downer, her father is a fed and her mother is a congressional staffer! Not exactly uber-rich, especially by DCUM standards.

"Her father, Christian Holmes IV, has devoted most of his life to public-minded government service–disaster relief in Africa, international development projects in China, environmental work in this country–and is currently the global water coordinator for the U.S. Agency for International Development. He met Elizabeth’s mother, Noel, on Capitol Hill, where she worked as a congressional committee staffer."

He went on to work in the private sector when they moved to Texas. He didn't remain a Fed.

So none of you actually read the article? Her family are descendants of the Fleishmann yeast fortune. Educated parents working in civil device and likely an affluent family going way back. She is doing great meaningful work, but not self made in I sorry. On top of the great great grandfather who was a surgeon and World War I hero. She is the latest on a long line of a successful family, but her accomplishments are mostly a result of upbringing and likely resources few of us can match.

I'm the OP and a guy who is very passionate about issues of opportunity, but I can't agree with the last sentence. Even for her pedigree, her accomplishments are ridiculous. 80 patents, 100+ co-patents, her business maturity at such a young age (there are videos of her at age 25 talking to stanford students regarding importance of cash flow in building a business....very different from what most young tech founders think about or say) - I know lots who went to HYPS that aspired/gunned to just make a lot of money while minimizing risk via finance or consulting or law.

Then again, I'm around my age so maybe i just want to get in her pants (though a number of her youtube videos kind of give off the vibe that she bats for the other team) but no I think her accomplishments are a lot to do with her with 20% to do with her background.

Debbie Downer here. 20% is... a lot. That 20%, at the least, is the difference between a Stanford grad at an investment bank and a Stanford grad with extraordinary accomplishments.

I don't want to minimize her or her accomplishments. But I'm wondering, as a society, are all of our extraordinary children given at least some of the opportunities to go as far as they can? And how much are we losing if they aren't?

here i agree with you - i think worldwide we lose a LOT of talent.

but i think technology is changing that - with more and more education being available at someones fingertips i think we will be able to identify really elite talent.

however, i think where we will keep struggling (and more so in teh future if things like moocs replace low-medium end of the education business) is identifying talent that perhaps isn't the autodidact or intensely driven. The late bloomer or the ones that needed a kick up the pants.

I'm not disagreeing that there is a huge opportunity gap, and some of the tech young money types are annoying assholes, but she seems to have a lot of substance and merit.

[Anonymous]

Going to school is a privilege for many who may have to work or get married at an early age to help support their impoverished families or due to culture.

[Anonymous]

you know what, stfu debbie downer. I'm having a hard time picturing you hand wringing about this over a male CEO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you know what, stfu debbie downer. I'm having a hard time picturing you hand wringing about this over a male CEO.

Except I totally wrung my hands over a male CEO in the first post I wrote on this thread:

Hey guys, it's me. Debbie Downer. I know, you've missed me. But something came to mind when I read this article, and this thread, that bugged me. Zuckerburg, Bill Gates, this lady, what do they all have in common? They came from affluent families. I can't tell you the last time I read about some technology titan who came from nothing or was born poor, or at least working class. Of course you're going to be able to make the most out of your brilliance if your parents are paying for summer Mandarin courses at Stanford.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you know what, stfu debbie downer. I'm having a hard time picturing you hand wringing about this over a male CEO.

Not DD but I always roll my eyes at self-made men too, even more so. Rich and male, you have NO roadblocks.

If OP had simply said how innovative and the good mission she was using her talents for, no one would have batted an eye.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you know what, stfu debbie downer. I'm having a hard time picturing you hand wringing about this over a male CEO.

Not DD but I always roll my eyes at self-made men too, even more so. Rich and male, you have NO roadblocks.

If OP had simply said how innovative and the good mission she was using her talents for, no one would have batted an eye.

And white. That's big here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you know what, stfu debbie downer. I'm having a hard time picturing you hand wringing about this over a male CEO.

Not DD but I always roll my eyes at self-made men too, even more so. Rich and male, you have NO roadblocks.

If OP had simply said how innovative and the good mission she was using her talents for, no one would have batted an eye.

she's a female stem entrepreneur - do you realize how rare that is? especially one that has the kind of valuation she's getting?

for all of the whitman's, fiorina's, sandberg's, meyer's - none of them are founders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you know what, stfu debbie downer. I'm having a hard time picturing you hand wringing about this over a male CEO.

Not DD but I always roll my eyes at self-made men too, even more so. Rich and male, you have NO roadblocks.

If OP had simply said how innovative and the good mission she was using her talents for, no one would have batted an eye.

she's a female stem entrepreneur - do you realize how rare that is? especially one that has the kind of valuation she's getting?

for all of the whitman's, fiorina's, sandberg's, meyer's - none of them are founders.

And her reward is lots of money, and flattering articles written about her, and threads about her. We don't need to pretend that she is "self made."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you know what, stfu debbie downer. I'm having a hard time picturing you hand wringing about this over a male CEO.

Not DD but I always roll my eyes at self-made men too, even more so. Rich and male, you have NO roadblocks.

If OP had simply said how innovative and the good mission she was using her talents for, no one would have batted an eye.

she's a female stem entrepreneur - do you realize how rare that is? especially one that has the kind of valuation she's getting?

for all of the whitman's, fiorina's, sandberg's, meyer's - none of them are founders.

All white and privileged backgrounds!

[Anonymous]

Who gives two fucks if she comes from White privilege?

Let's focus on the end result. She's helping a hell of a lot of people. Probably more than each of you on dcum has helped combined.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you know what, stfu debbie downer. I'm having a hard time picturing you hand wringing about this over a male CEO.

Not DD but I always roll my eyes at self-made men too, even more so. Rich and male, you have NO roadblocks.

If OP had simply said how innovative and the good mission she was using her talents for, no one would have batted an eye.

she's a female stem entrepreneur - do you realize how rare that is? especially one that has the kind of valuation she's getting?

for all of the whitman's, fiorina's, sandberg's, meyer's - none of them are founders.

All white and privileged backgrounds!

What you are ignoring is that not all white privileged, or otherwise privileged, people use their privilege this way. Yes, their privilege may have made a difference, but in a world of people who mostly do nothing, these people are still extraordinary! If we were talking about Aretha Franklin or LeBron James I think everyone would say the same thing. But right now we're talking about a female STEM superstar.