Venture capitalists reveal the startups that changed everything in the past decade (UBER, SFIX, AMZN, TEAM)

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Uber’s Travis Kalanick, Theranos’ Elizabeth Holmes, and WeWork’s Adam Neumann: All were considered charismatic and visionary founders who sought to change the world, but each was eventually forced out of their respective companies amid scandal.

When Holmes resigned in 2018 in the face of criminal charges and reports of fraud at Theranos, “everyone in venture really questioned their own diligence,” Kristin Gunther, a principal at Revolution, told Business Insider. Gunther added that it made her reflect on how she engages as a board member.

“Against a background where, for a couple years here, hot deals moved really fast and people could get funded based on two PowerPoint slides, it became even more important to say, ‘Hey, fine, this is a hot deal, but I’m going to miss it because it’s not worth it to cut the corners,'” Gunther said. 

Kalanick was also forced out for cutting corners. In 2017, investors orchestrated his resignation at a time when Uber’s public image had plummeted. Once a company that every investor wanted in on, critics had started alleging that Uber enabled workplace harassment, skirted local regulations, and that Kalanick’s own behavior had put the company on a crash course.

Neumann, WeWork’s eccentric founder, stepped down earlier this year after the company’s failed attempt to go public led to reports of his extensive conflicts of interest, mismanagement, and bizarre behavior.

All three companies epitomized Silicon Valley’s obsessive focus on growth and a celebration of ambitious founders, which often ignored problematic behavior and business practices.

“I just think we abandoned values in terms of, not just how we invested, but managed companies,” Elliott Robinson, a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, told Business Insider.