At another crossroads, can 23andMe be saved again by Anne Wojcicki?

As a rule, introductory meetings with startup executives are superficial and lose their meaning within an hour. But I still remember the first moment I met 23andMe CEO and co-founder Anne Wojcicki in 2007.

My editor at the time had arranged a meeting between my reporting partner, me, and Wojcicki, along with 23andMe co-founder Linda Avey, at an upscale sandwich shop on East 13th Street in New York City. It was a hot day. Three of us were already talking when Wojcicki stormed in, started talking at top speed, unselfconsciously picked up a glass of water from the table – my glass – and drank a long sip.

This moment has stuck with me because it encapsulates so much about who Wojcicki has always been, living one of the most interesting lives of the 21st century, navigating a world of biology, high tech and finance. She's someone who has been tireless, but sometimes reckless, in taking what she needs, and given her dedication to her mission, it generally seems pretty okay when she does that.