Theranos alert launchers launch a business to help startups avoid mistakes

• Theranos, the $ 1 billion bankrupt start-up that is now the subject of criminal charges, has been largely dismantled with the help of whistleblowers. within the blood testing company.
• Two of these whistleblowers, Erika Cheung and Tyler Shultz, have launched an organization that teaches ethical practices and decision-making to entrepreneurs who are building their own businesses.
• The organization, called Ethics in Entrepreneurship, is aimed at young entrepreneurs who have just started their business.

Two of the whistleblowers who helped expose allegations of fraudulent practices in the once-revered blood test startup Theranos launched a non-profit organization to help other startups avoid a spell. similar.

Erika Cheung and Tyler Shultz have launched a non-profit organization called Ethics in Entrepreneurship, which aims to help young entrepreneurs who are just beginning to prioritize ethical practices from the start. Cheung and Shultz say on their website that the nonprofit "is born from the ashes of Theranos" and strives to make ethics a priority for the entrepreneurs and founders of tomorrow's technology.

"There were so many cases, even for someone like Elizabeth Holmes, to turn around and say," I'm going a little too far here, "Cheung told CNN. "I think entrepreneurship can empower people and society, but we must not let things escalate to this point."

Cheung and Shultz both worked for Theranos, a $ 9 billion start-up that is expected to revolutionize blood testing. The two former employees helped shed light on the company's allegedly defective technology and inaccurate test results. The woman at the head of the startup, Elizabeth Holmes, faces charges of fraud and allegations that she knowingly misled investors by giving her more than $ 700 million for Theranos.

Read more: Here is a timeline of the rise and fall of Theranos' CEO, Elizabeth Holmes, who has grown from being the youngest billionaire in the world to being accused of mbadive fraud.

Shultz played a key role in the investigation of Wall Street Journal reporter John Carreyrou, who for the first time exposed what was happening in Theranos. Shultz was a former research engineer of the company and is also the grandson of the former secretary of state (and Theranos board member) George Shultz. Cheung worked in the Theranos laboratory and informed the federal health regulators in Theranos.

Now, the two former employees of Theranos are trying to prevent another Theranos from happening. The organization focuses primarily on providing training and ethics resources to early-stage entrepreneurs so that future founders can reflect and prepare for the ethical challenges they may face later. These resources include access to a network of experts and entrepreneurs who are not just getting started in the industry. The idea is to connect the less experienced and the more experienced, as well as people able to provide advice and additional context to make important decisions.

Ethics in Entrepreneurship strives to register as a non-profit organization in the United States and Hong Kong, where Cheung currently lives. The organization is currently receiving donations on its website to support its efforts.