You could say Theranos' core product was "released" - they were doing blood testing. Maybe badly. Maybe clandestinely on other equipment. But as far as the rest of the world was concerned it was "working".

Plus you have to define what "core product" means. Is it the bit that makes money? A lot of startups have slotted the money making bit in later and gone alright; others never really could figure that out.

And... relatively boring companies with real business can transform themselves into "house of cards built on lies" type businesses pretty easily, too. Think about Enron, or any financial firm that went heavily in on the subprime mortgages.