After the conviction of Elizabeth Holmes on four counts of fraud we now have the outcome of Sunny Balwani's case, resulting in him being found guilty of 12 counts of fraud.

Having been a high profile and much vaunted Silicon Valley start up story, the subsequent failure of Theranos can also be seen as a trial of the "fake it 'til you make it" culture 

The cautionary tale for entrepreneurs would seem to be by all means keep up the passion and energy and enthusiasm for your start up but make sure it is grounded in realistic expectation and verifiable information. Theranos may be an extreme example which people will be shocked at when reading what the founders knew and chose to withhold from investors, but getting the balance of the story and vision of your start up is more important than ever. 

Investors want to be excited about what founders are doing and what innovation is happening but they also want it to be realistic and achievable.

As the prosecutors said in this case "The story of Theranos is a tragedy" both for the investors who lost money and the clients who were harmed by the actions of the founders. It could also be said to have an element of tragedy for the entrepreneurs who may have to shake the image of this industry that Theranos has created off in their future conversations with investors and the press.