We asked 3 VCs: would you invest in Elizabeth Holmes’ next startup?

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Today’s show:

Elizabeth Holmes remains in prison for defrauding Theranos investors, even as she stars in the hit Nathan Fielder/Lance Oppenheim documentary “You Can See Everything.” But we’re asking the real question: After all the very public accusations… the hit pieces in the press and the Hulu drama series picking apart the scandal… would tech investors and VCs be willing to back her NEXT startup, if the numbers were right?

On today’s TWiST roundtable, Jason Calacanis is joined by Sam Lessin (Slow Ventures), Paige Finn Doherty (Behind Genius Ventures), and Jenny Fielding (Everywhere Ventures). In addition to reviews of the movie tech insiders can’t stop talking about, they cover why every seed portfolio needs a little bit of fraud, how diligence scales with check size, having trademark rights to your own voice, and the pro rata rights debate that’s still raging over Valar Atomics’ lawsuit with seed investors Day One Ventures.

Guests

Sam Lessin on X:x.com/lessin

Slow Ventures:slow.co

Paige Finn Doherty on X:x.com/paigefinnn

Behind Genius Ventures:behindgeniusventures.com

Jenny Fielding on X:x.com/jefielding

Everywhere Ventures:everywhere.vc

Relevant Links

OpenSnow:opensnow.com

“You Can See Everything” trailer:youtube.com/watch?v=HvW_N5p1q44

HBO Max “The Rehearsal” trailer:youtube.com/watch?v=2fjPFt8cpic

Elizabeth Holmes moves to halfway house in 2027 (ABC7):abc7.com/story/elizabeth-holmes-scheduled-move…

Billy Evans’ blood-testing startup Haemanthus (TechCrunch):techcrunch.com/2025/05/10/elizabeth-holmes-par…

Polymarket: Oscars 2027 Best Picture:polymarket.com/event/oscars-2027-best-picture-…

Kalshi: Oscars 2027 Best Documentary:kalshi.com/markets/kxoscardocu/event/kxoscardo…

Charlie Javice sentenced to 7 years (NBC News):nbcnews.com/business/business-news/charlie-jav…

Trump pardons Nikola founder Trevor Milton (Axios):axios.com/2025/03/28/trump-pardons-nikola-foun…

Sequoia writes its FTX stake down to zero (Fortune):fortune.com/2022/11/10/ftx-sam-bankman-fried-s…

Who lost money on Theranos? (Fortune):fortune.com/2018/05/04/theranos-investment-lost

“Barbarians at the Gate” on Amazon:amazon.com/Barbarians-Gate-Fall-RJR-Nabisco/dp…

a16z backs Adam Neumann’s Flow (Commercial Observer):commercialobserver.com/2022/08/adam-neumann-35…

Martin Shkreli lifetime pharma ban (FTC):ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2022/0…

Isaia Taylor post announcing Valar suit:x.com/isaiah_p_taylor/status/2108679133467414855

Day One Ventures response:x.com/mashadrokova/status/2108732979191390528

ElevenLabs Iconic Marketplace:elevenlabs.io/iconic-marketplace

Apple Corps vs. Apple Computer, a history (MacTech):mactech.com/2004/04/09/a-history-of-the-apple-…

Cameo for Business:cameo.com/business

Nox Metals:noxmetals.co

Electric Plant Company:electricplant.co

Ablieration:abliteration.ai

Timestamps:

Our new “This Week in VC” newsletter

Panel intro: Sam Lessin, Paige Doherty, Jenny Fielding

Why gambling loses appeal for VCs

Plaud: If your work depends on conversations - interviews, meetings, calls - you need a Plaud NotePin S. You can check it out at plaud.ai/twist and use code TWIST for 10% off!

DigitalOcean - Head to do.co/twist to start building on DigitalOcean's AI-Native Cloud today - and cut your AI workload costs by up to 50%

Best moments from “You Can See Everything”

Unreliable narrators and unknowable situations

Living in a post-truth moment

Due diligence horror stories

Odoo: The all-in-one business platform. Your first app is free! Get started today at odoo.com/twist

The VCs remember their fraud investments

How LAUNCH trains founders to prep for diligence

How Elizabeth Holmes kept raising money

Would you invest in an Elizabeth Holmes company?

Thanks to our partners at Rippling! Head to rippling.ai/twist and get the only AI built to give you full visibility across your startup and take complex actions across your entire business.

Why seed funds need pro rata rights

When “founder friendly” means rolling over

The three investor relationships: team, founders, LPs

ElevenLabs “Archer” voice controversy

How NIL deals reshaped college sports

Cameo for Business and long-tail celeb endorsements

Portfolio company shoutouts

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