The only thing people love more than building up a hero is knocking one down

Few athletes have become as popular as quickly as UFC fighter Ronda Rousey. I’m only casually familiar with Ultimate Fighting, but even I know about Rousey. A former Olympian, Rousey burst onto the UFC scene in November of 2012 and quickly became one of the most dominant athletes in all of sports.
Rousey went into her most recent fight against Holly Holm on November 15th as the overwhelming favorite. In a shocking turn of events, however, she was resoundingly defeated by Holm in the second round. What happened next was fascinating. Almost instantly, public adulation turned to scorn, and people came out of the woodwork to revel in her defeat. As a casual observer, I couldn’t help but marvel at how applicable the lessons of Rousey’s defeat could be for entrepreneurs.


Ronda Rousey of the US (L) lines up compatriot Holly Holm (R) during the UFC title fight in Melbourne on November 15, 2015. (Credit: PAUL CROCK/AFP/Getty Images

Rousey is a controversial figure for sure. She has a long and tremendously entertaining history of taunting her opponents and making inflammatory statements to the media. Many expected the targets of her earlier barbs to weigh in on her defeat. What was interesting, however, was how eager her regular fans were to jump on the negativity bandwagon. It reminded me of the fact that the only thing people love more than building a hero up is knocking them down.

We recently saw something similar play out with Theranos and its enigmatic founder, Elizabeth Holmes. As I wrote about earlier, Theranos is a medical startup that claims to have developed a highly disruptive and revolutionary new means of conducting blood tests. These claims, however, have been called into question due to an investigative article The Wall Street Journal month by John Carreyrou. Overnight, Theranos went from a much-beloved Silicon Valley “unicorn” to a subject of ridicule and suspicion. Why the change? Because people love throwing rocks at their former heroes. Entrepreneurs and leaders should remember this, especially when they’re riding high.