The Dropout, written by Elizabeth Meriwether, is a film that tells the tale of Elizabeth Holmes ( Amanda Seyfried ), a 17-year-old Stanford student who sets up her own business, Theranos, and intends to streamline the complicated and costly blood tests. The show is influenced by Holmes’s story Holmes and is an adaptation of an ABC Audio podcast of the same name by Rebecca Jarvis.
In the show, Elizabeth teams up with engineers Rakesh Madhava and Edmond Ku to develop a device that can test Blood by using a tiny small drop. The Dropout is based on Holmes, the true story of Holmes. The audience is bound to find out the motives behind Ku and Madhava’s future plans with Theranos. In that regard, this article will provide all you should be aware of!
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Are Rakesh Madhava and Edmond Ku Based On Real People?
In the film ‘The Dropout’, Rakesh Madhava and Edmond Ku are two of the most prominent employees of Theranos. After Elizabeth creates her own business and decides to create the idea of a simpler blood-testing machine, she employs Madhava and Ku; Both are engineers that are responsible for creating the device. The actor Utkarsh Ambudkar is the character in the role of Rakesh Madhava. He is most likely best known for his role as Jay on the show ‘ Ghosts. James Hiroyuki LIAO plays the role of Edmond Ku in the series. Liao is well-known for his role in TV shows like ‘ Cowboy Bebop and ‘ Manifest.’
Ku’s version on the show Ku is believed to be inspired by Edmond Ku, an engineer known within Silicon Valley for his ability to solve problems. Ku was recruited as a consultant by Holmes in 2006 and was the head of Holmes’ Engineering Division. Ku was born in Hong Kong and spent a portion of his youth in Canada before moving to the USA. At Theranos company, he was responsible for developing Theranos 1.0, the “Theranos 1.0” device. Ku quit the company in the year 2008.
However, there is a possibility that a person with the name Rakesh Madhava exists. The show’s character is likely based solely on Rakesh Madhava. In reality, Madhava is a software engineer who started his own business in 2005. In contrast, Madhava, the fictional Madhava, is an engineer from biotech who Theranos employed from 2008 to 2008. But, Madhava may be an amalgamation of characters influenced by various earlier workers of Theranos.
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Why Did Rakesh Madhava and Edmond Ku Quit?
In the 3rd episode of the show ‘The Dropout’,’ Elizabeth comes under pressure to prove to directors that she can take on the responsibilities of CEO. She hopes to accelerate the development of the prototype. However, the technology needed to get it working flawlessly is still a long way from being developed. In the end, Elizabeth can hire an engineer who is different, Brendan Morris, to be the head of his rival engineering team. Elizabeth puts the two teams against each another to accelerate the development.
Furthermore, Elizabeth is churning Ku’s engineering team around the clock. When Elizabeth becomes discontent with the team’s work, she dismisses Ku. The machine developed by Morris and Ku’s team is called “The Edison,” but it cannot produce precise test results. Soon after Ku is dismissed, Madhava also grows dissatisfied with Elizabeth’s approach and decides to leave Theranos. In the end, Elizabeth’s insufficient knowledge of the more sophisticated aspects of technology and engineering aspect of her company leads to Theranos losing employees such as Ku and Madhava.
