In the age of internet startups, PT Barnum’s dictum that there’s a sucker born every minute needs to be amended: lots of people can go broke by overestimating the intelligence of the average founder.
WeCrashed, starring Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway, traced the rise and fall of WeWork (valued at at $47bn until it very suddenly wasn’t). The Dropout put the boggling madness and eventual collapse of the healthcare company Theranos, built on hope, fraudulent data and the charisma of Elizabeth Holmes (now at the start of an 11-year prison term for defrauding investors), on fully illuminated display.
