True story: $9 billion. Gone. Not through complex schemes or elaborate heists, but through something far simpler: our own mental blind spots.
Elizabeth Holmes didn’t just build a company. She built a mirage. And some of the smartest people in the world fell for it.
How did a 19-year-old college dropout convince billionaires and military leaders to invest in technology that never worked?
The answer lies in three powerful psychological traps:
1) Authority Bias.
Holmes stacked her board with former Secretaries of State and military generals. Our brains are wired to trust authority figures. But here’s the catch – none of these leaders knew anything about medical technology.
2) Narrative Bias.
Holmes didn’t just sell a product – she sold a story. The next Steve Jobs, dressing like him, acting like him, revolutionizing healthcare. When a story feels good, our brains often skip the fact-checking.
3) Social Proof.
When billionaires like Rupert Murdoch and Larry Ellison invested, others followed. After all, if they’re in, it must be good… right?
This shows that the most dangerous traps aren’t the ones others set for us. They’re the ones our minds set for ourselves.
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