In the last week on October 16th, 2026, the Elizabeth Holmes’ documentary “You Can See Everything” was released.

I didn’t see it, nor am I advocating or encouraging anyone to see it. But in the last week I took a different approach to the context.

Instead, I choose to watch an interview with Elizabeth’s partner, Billy Evans.

David Freidberg from the All In podcast interviewed Billy Evans on stage as part of the All In Summit. The interview was posted one day before the documentary release.

Fundamentally, I was curious to understand the psyche of the person who would choose to be partnered with Elizabeth Holmes.

Let’s just say, in this case, opposites didn’t attract. But rather, lies magnetized.

In the first several minutes of this interview, Billy Evans told a white-faced lie several times.

It all started in the first few words.

Friedberg: “Have you ever done a live interview like this?”

Evans: “Dude, I've never done an interview.”

Friedberg (in a tone of complete disbelief): “You've never done an interview?” (The smile on his face is priceless)

Evans: “Thank you guys all for being the guinea pigs here.”

That's strange for a person who literally just had 34 days of his life be one elongated interview that can now be seen in a documentary.

Friedberg kicks off the first interview by asking him how he met Elizabeth.

Evans says that he met Elizabeth at party that he actually had forgotten about. Until venture capitalist host called him and said, “Billy, are you coming by our event today?

Evans told Friedberg, “I said, ‘Of course!’ I had totally forgotten.”

Then Evans details how he met Elizabeth at the party, saying,

“So, when I first met her [Elizabeth], she told me that she had this husky and I told her I had a dog. I didn't really have a dog. It was my it was my roommate's dog, but he he was like mine. And the first times that we hung out, we just go on walks.

She would walk her dog, and I would walk my rent a dog that belonged to my roommate.”

The first time, “I’ve never done an interview,” he seemed to be a statement that he genuinely believed in.

The other two times, he actually admitted that he was telling a lie - He told the VC host that “of course” he was coming by an event that he had completely forgotten about. Also, he told Elizabeth that he owned a dog when the dog really belonged to his roommate.

He lied to the person that would become his partner in the very first few minutes.

The vast majority of are not on the level of socialpathic liars.

Nevertheless, this is an example of how the truth really does matter.

People often skirt around the truth in order to to increase the chances of hitting a desired outcome.

But that doesn’t make it right.

When it comes to evaluating founding teams, one of my key activities as an investor is understanding the truth vs. what they represent to be true.

One of ways that I most commonly see skirting around the truth is when an individual overstates one’s contribution to an outcome.

Once when I was a founder, I was at a pitch event. I had pitched in the morning, and another company at pitched in the afternoon. Let’s call the founder and CEO, Eric.

During this pitch, when he was on the team slide, Eric talked about his background and said that, “I have a startup exit.”

During the Q&A after the pitch, one of the investors asked him a question that in some ways was not obvious one to ask, "What was your role in the company that you exited?"

The CEO said, “I was the VP of Sales.”

During Eric’s pitch, I was standing in the back of the room. When Eric answered in that way, a visible sigh and annoyance came over the audience. Attendees shifted in their chairs. The CEO had inimated in his pitch that he led a company, as a founder or CEO, to an exit. But no, not really. He was actually the VP of Sales. But to everyone else, he would have been the CEO if that investor chose not to ask a specific question about it.

“I had an exit” as employee #27 at a startup is way different than the Founder and CEO who was negotiating with investment bankers and keeping the company from flying into the sun and running out of cash while they were being acquired and actually signed the closing paperwork.

When a founder says they had an exit or went through an exit, I now make 100% clear to understand what their role was in the company through that.

That’s why one of the things that has made me a much better investor, but also a better business-person, is to to not take things at surface level and understand the “why” behind the words.

In my article See the Seams of the Startup, I write how

"Investor due diligence acts like the investor is pulling at what they see are the seams of the startup. The investor’s job is to see how easily those seams come apart.”

It’s as if a startup represents a T-shirt. The investor feels the fabric in their hands and identifies what they see as the seams of the shirt. Then, they puts one hand on each side of the seam try to pull it apart. Then, they go to another seam, and try to pull it apart and force breakage. They continue to do this, over and over. As they keep tugging at different seams, they are going to find where things break down easily, or if the seams stay intact.”

In general, when founders say different things, I feel that they are sometimes surprised when I dial in deep to a particular word or phrase that they used or action that they referred to.

I am testing them. I am pulling on the seams of the different things that they have said, trying to see if there is substance or if it falls apart.

What was your role in this, really?

If there is backpeddling, I have a signal.

Now, founders need to keep investors honest too. If the VC firm says they have connections to here and there, this person or that person. Don’t just take their word for it. Ask them, what does this mean in practice, for you as a founder?

Watching the Billy Evan’s interview, I knew exactly why he was married to Elizabeth Holmes - they both had an open relationship with the truth.

Yes, these two figures are extreme examples.

Both founders and investors should have a sound relationship with the truth.

Next week, I’m going to write an article about how I do this in practice. I think you’re going to like it.

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