Not once in that period did anyone really impart lessons of integrity and hard work. At best, I encountered adults (specifically, teachers) who went out of their way to impede my success, but I usually overcame that. Through that period of my life, I can count the number of people who had a positive influence on my personal development on one finger.
I came into my early 20s a combative, arrogant asshole who couldn't really achieve anything and it took almost a decade and significant hardship (including brief periods of homelessness) to undo that.
That's not to empathize with Holmes or her fraud, but if I have to be honest, a lot of the "intellectual elite" (in tech) that I encounter think that their shit doesn't stink.
Edit: Oh yeah, this feels appropriate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEUh4FZIf8E
It’s partly “fake it until you make it”, “double think” and a certain lack of understanding of the basic technology.
And investors reward that behavior mostly investing in a persons connections and projected confidence. Theranos raised hundreds of millions of dollars, and they’re by no means the only company like this. In fact, many of them do manage to fake it until they make it and become successful.
Or maybe it's just that a billion dollars can make a lot of people re-consider their values.