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Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup

John Carreyrou

4.45 · Rating details · 122,429 ratings · 12,616 reviews

A New York Times bestseller.

WINNER OF THE FINANCIAL TIMES/MCKINSEY BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2018

The full inside story of the breathtaking rise and shocking collapse of Theranos, the multibillion-dollar biotech startup, by the prize-winning journalist who first broke the story and pursued it to the end, despite pressure from its charismatic CEO and threats by her

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Kindle Edition, 354 pages

Published May 31st 2018 by Picador (first published May 21st 2018)

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Dec 03, 2018 Bill Gates rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I don’t read a lot of page turners. I often find myself unable to put a book down—but they’re not the kinds of books that would keep most people glued to their chairs. Still, I recently found myself reading a book so compelling that I couldn’t turn away.

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou details the rise and fall of Theranos. If you aren’t familiar with the Theranos story, here’s the short version: the company promised to quickly give you a complete picture ...more

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Jun 21, 2018 Roxane rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Fascinating accounting of the Theranos scam and I do mean SCAM. Exhaustively reported. I do wish there had been more analysis of how a scam of this magnitude was made possible and enabled. This girl dropped out of college and convinced Henry Kissinger, George Schulz, Rupert Murdoch and a bunch of other famous and/or incredibly talented people to give her money or work with her even though there was no there, there. WHAT? There are so many incredible WTF moments. Just wow. Privilege is a hell of ...more

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May 29, 2018 Michael Perkins rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

"The resignations infuriated Elizabeth and Sunny. The following day, they summoned the staff for an all-hands meeting in the cafeteria. Copies of The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho had been placed on every chair. Elizabeth told the gathered employees that she was building a religion. If there was anyone not prepared to show complete devotion and unmitigated loyalty to the company they should “get the fuck out.”

The Steve Jobs Syndrome

I have covered Silicon Valley as a journalist and author for three ...more

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Mar 04, 2019 Julie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou is a 2018 Knopf Publishing Group publication.

‘Super high turnover rate means you’re never bored at work.
Also good if you’re an introvert because each shift is short-staffed. Especially if you’re swing or graveyard. You essentially don’t exist to the company.
Why be bothered with lab coats and safety goggles? You don’t need to use PPE at all. Who cares if you catch something like HIV or Syphilis? This company sure doesn’ ...more

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Jun 18, 2018 Ilona rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Tips on how to make an unicorn:
- Be a sociopath
- Excel at sales&marketing
- Get some cool people on your Board

Tips to how to fake it till you make it?
- Hire a lot of lawyers
- Intimidate all your employees
- Pretend that you are a vocal proponent of a cause that you are actually against

How to make it as a woman in the tech world?
- Baritone
- Intese staring

What can fuck up your amazing future as a tech billionaire?
- Facts and data :(

I love any story that shows how sales&marketing can change ...more

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Jan 08, 2020 Always Pouting rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Last night when I finished this I just wanted to write a review that was haha repeated like four hundred times. I've gotten some sleep since then and calmed down though. This was really good, like I stayed up until 3 am reading because I didn't want to put it down good. Most I'm just befuddled that this happened at all and at the fact that most of the people implicated in this are just probably never going to face any repercussions. I don't even necessarily mean legal repercussions but like just ...more

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May 23, 2018 Andrew Garvin rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Early in my career I worked at a next-generation sequencing startup with Theranos-level ambitions. In fact, it went further. The founders’ mission was to cure aging. Literally, the goal was immortality.

There were other similarities: The company was founded by wunderkinds, they won the attention and support of a prominent professor in the field, they dropped out and raised millions of dollars from non-hard tech investors off the back of a concept, then tens of millions of dollars off the back of Early in my career I worked at a next-generation sequencing startup with Theranos-level ambitions. In fact, it went further. The founders’ mission was to cure aging. Literally, the goal was immortality.

There were other similarities: The company was founded by wunderkinds, they won the attention and support of a prominent professor in the field, they dropped out and raised millions of dollars from non-hard tech investors off the back of a concept, then tens of millions of dollars off the back of a glued together prototype, all while pursuing a fantastical goal.

The company was wild but not fraudulent. Quite the contrary: When the founders realized that the technology was not going to work (or would take many more years to validate) they decided to fold the company. All of the scientists - even the skeptics - were shocked and disappointed. We were on the verge of breaking through in key areas. But, it was over.

And, the irony? Many of those scientists went on to work at Theranos. It was just down the street.

By 2012 they had all left Theranos. ‘It's too crazy’. ‘It’s way worse’. Way worse than an immature company that blew up on a whim? I started following Theranos: the Glassdoor reviews, the funding announcements, the glowing press coverage. It was surreal to know that the company was a fraud and yet to see it rise.

Carreyrou exposed it all. How Holmes and Balwani drove an employee to suicide, how they strong-armed employees, investors, even generals and statesmen, how they lied to win multi-million dollar deals from credulous partners. The pulp in Bad Blood is juicy. I read the book on one overseas flight.

Theranos is extreme but not singular. Silicon Valley lionizes founders and ‘overnight’, 100X successes. Investors are pushed & pulled toward a hands-off approach. Founders retain board control and investors don’t meddle. This environment is prime for fraud. My management philosophy: In a vacuum, everyone cuts corners. Everyone gets lazy. And, unscrupulous people do worse.

A couple years ago I tweeted: ‘At what point do high-profile unicorn frauds irreparably damage the philosophy and practice of founder-friendly investors?’ That was about Hampton Creek. It could have been about Zenefits, or Uber (in a sense), or, of course, Theranos. Who will be next? The odds-on favorite is WeWork. Does Tesla (a public company) count? The whisper-consensus has many candidates.

There are many frauds left to be exposed. But, none as big as Theranos. Well, maybe one or two. ...more

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Dec 14, 2018 BlackOxford rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: measurement, american, science, biography-biographical

The True Cost of Idealism

I have been guilty of the grave fault of idealism in much of my professional life. Consequently I cringe when I read of the young Elizabeth Holmes and her idealistic trajectory from the thrilling emotionally-laden launch of Theranos, which promised a breakthrough in medical technology, to its ignominious destruction as a fraudulent scam. In her I see myself - not in her level of talent or her self-confidence but in her profound self-delusion. It is this self-delusion ...more

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Apr 02, 2019 Chelsea (chelseadolling reads) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to Chelsea by: Madalyn (Novel Ink)

This was fucking BANANAS.

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Sep 01, 2019 carol. rated it liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: fans of exposés

Shelves: caper-heist, medical, non-fiction, female-lead

Lessons learned:

1. Elizabeth Holmes speaks in an unusually deep voice.
2. What matters is who you know. If you look good and have the right connections, you can get millions of dollars for your imaginary device, particularly if you model it on the iPhone and dress like Steve Jobs.
3. Even very rich people can be stupid with money.
4. Sometimes the people that aren’t stupid are only supporting you for the money.

Rather outside my normal genres of mystery, sci-fi and fantasy, Bad Blood intrigued me Lessons learned:

1. Elizabeth Holmes speaks in an unusually deep voice.
2. What matters is who you know. If you look good and have the right connections, you can get millions of dollars for your imaginary device, particularly if you model it on the iPhone and dress like Steve Jobs.
3. Even very rich people can be stupid with money.
4. Sometimes the people that aren’t stupid are only supporting you for the money.

Rather outside my normal genres of mystery, sci-fi and fantasy, Bad Blood intrigued me both because of its medical focus and because I heard it was a particularly well-done story. Although I will once again offer up a more appropriate title: Bad Blood Tech, because the blood itself here is perfectly fine. Absolutely normal, in fact. Perfectly healthy blood that’s put into a nefarious machine, sold by a flim-flam operator of the highest level.

The storytelling is very straight-forward, generally devoid of literary flourishes and with only minor asides. In fact, at times the writing seems simplistic. On reflection, I think Carreyrou had to keep his sentences as factual as possible, knowing that Holmes’ lawyers would go over every word looking to dispute it. As such, it reads quickly.

Until, that is, you you develop Toxic Exposure Syndrome, the experience of immersing yourself in the world of unrepentant and awful people. I found I had to take a break, and once stopped, was reluctant to pick it up. I solved my little dilemma by reading backwards, and was relieved to discover that the narrative eventually switches from the meteoric ‘rise’ of Thantos to the development of the Wall Street Journal‘s expose. That’s when the crazy took an actively evil direction with Thantos harassing former employees, potential sources, and anyone who might speak to Carreyrou about Thantos.

What surprised me the most about this story is how many people Elizabeth Holmes was able to convince to part with their money. Sure, it seems she genuinely believed in her product and its potential. But the goal was a product used to test blood for diagnostic purposes. Even the most simple nurse (cough-cough) could tell you that there’s certification involved. This isn’t a Kickstarter for your new book, or a new design for luggage, or even an up-and-coming app that will tell you if the concert you are at will burst your eardrums (this is a thing). Tests almost always have to be run past the FDA. And Holmes never showed anyone proof of such things.

Essentially, thanks to an impressive amount of seed money through family connections, she was able to keep her pyramid scam going by finding new people and just enough opportunities to parlay small successes into looking like big ones. Until they turned to outright lies. I will note that many of the scientists and engineers she hired did ultimately quit after sharing their (ethical) concerns with their boss, whose response seems to have been, 'don't worry about it.'

I do have to thank Carreyrou, though. We were sitting around work in the break room the other day, in our fifteen by fifteen space shared by roughly twenty people a shift, and someone was commiserating on how awful our jobs were right now. “Well,” I said, “at least we have our souls.”

Three stars, through no fault of the Author. I just didn't enjoy reading about a rampant narcissist and her team of parasitic lawyers. ...more

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Jul 16, 2018 Rincey rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

HOLY COW. I followed the Elizabeth Holmes/Theranos story slightly but this book does such a fantastic job of showing how completely banana pants this situation was.

This was also great on audio, and so addictive that I started making up chores I could do just so I could keep listening.

Watch me discuss this book in my July wrap up: https://youtu.be/8kaQcaNn9uw

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Aug 14, 2018 Meredith B. (readingwithmere) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

4.5 Stars

Elizabeth told the gathered employees that she was building a religion. If there were any among them who didn’t believe, they should leave.

Wow! What a powerful story. I'm a fan of financial stories and I personally work in the tech industry so when I heard about this book I knew I had to read it. If you like shows like Shark Tank, I think you will find this story interesting.

Elizabeth Holmes is 19 and an incredibly smart girl. She decides to dropout of Stanford because she has an idea for a medical device that could literally change the entire medical industry. The device is supposed to eliminate drawing blood through a large needle and instead simply prick your finger and get results faster. She becomes romantically involved with a guy 20 years her senior named Sunny who becomes a powerhouse at the company. They name the company Theranos. Elisabeth is called the next Steve Jobs. Her company goes and eventually is valued at 9 Billion dollars and she becomes the most valuable female CEO ever. Walgreens and Safeway buy into the idea and invest millions. Other famous names invest as well such as, Rupert Murdoch.

This all sounds good and well right? Well what if you worked at a company and found out the entire product was a lie and didn't actually work? What if you realized that the company you are working for made a product that can potentially kill people because the company is faking results and putting innocent lives at risk? Would you quit or say something? If you quit you get harassed & sued (you have to sign an NDA) if you speak a word. If you speak up you immediately get fired and harassed. Let's just say the grass isn't always greener. One day the lies start to come out from a WSJ article when ex-Theranos employees start to speak anonymously...

But how could this woman continue to keep this lie going for over 10 years?

This story honestly blew me away. I have no idea how large companies such as Walgreens and Safeway were able to not see through the lies. Maybe Elizabeth was an amazing negotiator but if I invested hundreds of millions of dollars and the product wasn't hitting timelines I would end that ASAP. I think that the companies had FOMO (fear of missing out), at least Walgreens did. They were afraid of CVS getting the business instead, only to be duped.

The author, who is also the WSJ journalist who broke this story, calls Elizabeth a sociopath. He says they are defined by: not having a conscience in regards to actions they've taken. I'm not sure I would have pegged her as that but when you think about it, she literally could have killed people if doctors actually believe this medical device worked. Luckily, the WSJ article broke before it became a real problem. But morally how can someone do that? Oh and if you look Elizabeth up online she's already starting to try to get people to invest in a new business idea she has. I guess she's moved on...

This story was so interesting and I highly recommend for those who enjoy good business scandals/investment stories. It was a wild ride and I also learned a lot about blood science! This definitely lives up to the hype. ...more

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Jan 18, 2019 JanB rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, 2019-reads

How does a woman who was once lauded as the youngest self-made female billionaire find herself now broke and charged with fraud? Her face was on the cover of many financial magazines as the golden girl of Silicon Valley, the female Steve Jobs. In her black turtlenecks, she even dressed like Jobs.

Elizabeth Holmes had an idea for a medical device that used breakthrough technology that could provide lab results from a simple finger prick and a minuscule drop of blood, and thereby revolutionize the ...more

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Dec 06, 2018 Lola rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: business, true-crime, non-fiction, science

A company that set out to save lives… only to put those same lives in danger with its malfunctioning technology.

What a scary and fascinating story. It’s hard to believe that Theranos really happened because you think that nowadays it’s easy to spot liars and lying technologies… but it’s not that easy after all, especially if the person duping you is as charismatic as this Elizabeth Holmes is.

But the main reason why it took a VERY long time for people to catch on that Theranos was doing more ...more

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Aug 11, 2018 Lex Kent rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction

I don’t read a lot of nonfiction books. I love the imagination of fiction. When I heard about this book from a television show, it sounded unbelievable. The fact that this was a true story that seemed stranger than fiction, I had to give it a read. I’m really glad I did because this was really good.

This story is about the youngest woman, to become a self-made billionaire, and the giant fraud she committed on Silicon Valley. Elizabeth Holmes, was a Stanford drop-out that used her knowledge and ...more

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Dec 12, 2018 Hannah rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, audiobook

Mesmerising. Unbelievable. Compulsively readable.

I cannot recommend this highly enough. I sped through this audiobook in a few days because I just could not stop listening to it. There were so many unbelievable things in this true account of the Theranos scam that my mouth dropped open in a way I wouldn't have thought happens in real life.

John Carreyrou traces the story of Elizabeth Holmes and her medical start-up Theranos from the beginning with the help of countless interviews and other Mesmerising. Unbelievable. Compulsively readable.

I cannot recommend this highly enough. I sped through this audiobook in a few days because I just could not stop listening to it. There were so many unbelievable things in this true account of the Theranos scam that my mouth dropped open in a way I wouldn't have thought happens in real life.

John Carreyrou traces the story of Elizabeth Holmes and her medical start-up Theranos from the beginning with the help of countless interviews and other insights. The picture he paints is breathtaking: of a firm run like a cult, of incompetence that can only be explained by a complete lack of understanding of science by nearly everyone involved, of unethical hounding of those who did see the bad science for what it was. I can tell you, if I can see the science as flawed it is really flawed – my knowledge of biology and chemistry is lacklustre to say the least.

While I overall enjoyed this book a whole lot, there were a few things that did not quite work for me. First and foremost the framing of the story – as Elizabeth Holmes did not give any interviews for this book, her story is told from the other end, which I am absolutely fine with and I do think Carreyrou did an exceptional job with this, but his clear distaste for Holmes shines through in a way that I did not always appreciate. For example, early on he uses an anecdote of her playing Monopoly with her brothers and being a super sore loser as an indication for how horrible and competitive a person she is – and I don’t buy that. Lots of kids are sore losers, most of them grow up not scamming patients. I do agree with his assessment that Holmes scammed her investors purposefully and did not care about the patients being misdiagnosed because of her flawed technology but I wish he had let me come to this assessment on my own a bit more.

As a case study of how the lack of diverse knowledge can harm a company, this book is priceless. There were many instances where having somebody on the board of directors with just a little bit of knowledge of the science between the big idea would have led to a totally different ending. I would have liked to have seen an analysis of the social structures in place that enabled Holmes to build her company and run it for many years without any pertinent experience as a 19-year-old college dropout just based on knowing the right people and acting the part. But still, this book is amazing in achieving what it set out to do.

You can find this review and other thoughts on books on my blog. ...more

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Jul 08, 2019 Jenna rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, technology

When we get our blood tested, we naturally assume the results that come back are trustworthy. High LDL cholesterol levels? We're either going to change our diet (whole food plant based is the way to go!), start exercising more, or decide to take statins (tip: WFPB diet and exercise are much better for your overall health than statins). Same thing if our blood work comes back saying we're diabetic. Or any other number of disorders. One thing is certain, when our blood work comes back saying When we get our blood tested, we naturally assume the results that come back are trustworthy. High LDL cholesterol levels? We're either going to change our diet (whole food plant based is the way to go!), start exercising more, or decide to take statins (tip: WFPB diet and exercise are much better for your overall health than statins). Same thing if our blood work comes back saying we're diabetic. Or any other number of disorders. One thing is certain, when our blood work comes back saying there's something wrong, most of us are going to do something to remedy the problem. We take the results at their word, not second guess them and decide to do nothing. Imagine getting blood work back saying you have cancer. You're going to have a whole lot of stress and worry, hope you have decent health insurance to cover the expensive tests you now need to have before you can start treatment, lose money taking time off work to get tests done, etc. We don't usually question the results of blood work; instead we rely on them to diagnose medical issues or to assure us that we are healthy. Doctors also rely on them, basing 70 percent of their treatment decisions on lab results.

Unfortunately, Elizabeth Holmes, founder and CEO of Theranos didn't care about the reliability of blood tests. In the early 2000s, she started a company that would, she promised, revolutionize the medical industry. She guaranteed a medical device that patients could have in their own homes which performed hundreds of different blood tests, safely and quickly, and with only a tiny drop of blood. Sounds awesome, doesn't it? No more waiting at least a couple days for results. No more feeling and seeing long needles plunge into your veins, watching (or not watching, in my case!) your blood pour from your body into small tubes. Ick! I get grossed out just thinking about it!

Bleax GIF - DryHeave ThrowUp Vomit GIFs

Moving along..... the idea Elizabeth Holmes had was brilliant.... and yet it was just that, an idea. She raised billions of dollars assuring investors that she had a machine that worked and accurately tested blood, quickly and safely. She sold machines to the Mexican government to test for Swine flu (even though she was told you could more accurately test for it through a nasal swab). She signed deals with Walgreens and Safeway and the US military. She became the youngest person to win the Horatio Alger Award. President Obama made her a U.S. ambassador for global entrepreneurship.

There was one problem though: the machines didn't actually work. This didn't bother Elizabeth Holmes; she consistently ignored faulty tests and wouldn't listen to her employees when they suggested something was wrong with the technology. She showed not an ounce of regard for patients' well-being; the only thing she seemed to care about was money and fame. She likened herself to Steve Jobs, even going so far as to dress like him, name parts of her lab like he did, and lower her voice several notches to speak more like him.

Unfortunately for patients, Ms. Holmes' technology rarely worked, but that didn't stop her from raising billions of dollars and hoodwinking investors and company CEOs alike. I am amazed at how she was able to manipulate people and how these (usually) men took her word that her machines worked, this equipment that could cause suffering and even death to patients if it didn't work. No matter how evasive and dishonest she was, many people couldn't see past her blonde hair and red lips.

Thankfully it eventually came out that her technology was not reliable, before it became responsible for the death of anyone. As the author notes, there are "two nightmare scenarios false blood-test results could lead to. A false positive might cause a patient to have an unnecessary medical procedure. But a false negative was worse: a patient with a serious condition that went undiagnosed could die". As of the writing of this review, Elizabeth Holmes is awaiting trial on fraud charges, along with her former boyfriend and the company COO “Sunny” Balwani.

This book is meticulously researched. For me, there was a bit too much detail (I don't care what kind of cars the people in the book drove or where they went to eat) and I think I would have preferred a lengthy magazine article about the story to such a detailed book. I don't care what individual emails said (unless they revealed something new) or who said what about whom. At times, this felt like a gossipy tabloid and at others it was overwhelming with the details. However, it is well-written and well researched and so, whilst it's 3 stars for how much I personally liked it, I think it deserves 4 stars.

Unfortunately, I am already cynical and have a difficult time trusting doctors (who often seem to care more about the profits of pharmaceutical companies than about the well-being of their patients) and the for-profit medical system in this country. I think my level of distrust has risen by what I learned in this book. Still, it's always better to be informed. ...more

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Aug 08, 2019 Diane S ☔ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 5000-2019, lor-2019

From an early age Elizabeth Holmes, wanted to become an entrepreneur, maker her own fortune. Going to Standford, she revered Steve Jobs, and wanted to succeed in a life changing invention of her own. She dropped out of Standford and started her own company. She would Implement, invent and sell a small machine that would only take a pin prick of blood, getting instantaneous results that would allow doctors to make medication changes, much more quickly. Sounds good, many thought so, she raised ...more

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Jan 03, 2019 Brandice rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Fascinating! Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup is a detailed account of the (perceived) rise and demise of Theranos, a blood testing startup once valued at nearly $9B. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and barely wanted to put it down. It was baffling to read about the scams, stunts and lies this company pulled, led by founder Elizabeth Holmes and her former boyfriend, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani. The red flags surrounding Theranos were rampant, and Carreyrou does an excellent job ...more

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Jun 17, 2018 Gwern rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Bad Blood is a straightforward read about the rise and fall of Theranos, done in chronological order in third-person up until Carreyrou becomes personally involved, at which point things accelerate to the SEC civil settlement. Carreyrou doesn't end too strongly but says that the criminal investigation may well end up charging Holmes & Sunny. This means that it lacks a really conclusive 'ending': Theranos was continuing to limp on, having received funding from a vulture on the strength of its ...more

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Jan 31, 2019 Holly rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, non-fiction, 2019-read

A Sanford dropout with no extensive engineering or medical or science or business knowledge 'created' an idea for a product and company that required all of those things. It not only ultimately failed but also put untold numbers of people at risk and harm? You don't say. One thing, for me, that was truly surprising in this story is that the dropout in question wasn't a white male, instead it was a woman, Elizabeth Holmes.

Elizabeth Holmes had on the surface a brilliant idea - what if just a ...more

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May 03, 2019 Justin rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Well, friends, by now I’ve read this here book, I’ve listened to The Dropout podcast, and I’ve watched that crazy ole HBO documentary where Elizabeth Holmes stared at me with those creepy, unblinking eyes in front of a white background. I think I’ve covered the story from every angle, consumed it in three different ways, and now I’m wondering how I missed this story when it was a thing. Before all the books and documentaries and stuff. Oh well.

It’s always good to read a book directly from the Well, friends, by now I’ve read this here book, I’ve listened to The Dropout podcast, and I’ve watched that crazy ole HBO documentary where Elizabeth Holmes stared at me with those creepy, unblinking eyes in front of a white background. I think I’ve covered the story from every angle, consumed it in three different ways, and now I’m wondering how I missed this story when it was a thing. Before all the books and documentaries and stuff. Oh well.

It’s always good to read a book directly from the source/ in this case WSJ’s own John Carreyou. He’s the guy who busted this thing open, and when he gets to that point in his little book here you can almost picture him all giddy at his computer, furiously typing away with his fingers just bouncing off the keys and his legs shaking under the table, a big grin on his face, standing up to clap and throw his hand into the air with a loud Ric Flair “Woo!” as he wraps up the chapter.

But it’s the details he pulls out along the way that make this book so captivating. He unravels things slowly, introducing us to the vast amount of characters and the Theranos headquarters, making us feel like we’re an employee working in a fake lab. But it’s the story the book is telling that is so unbelievable, as if this must actually be a fiction book because this couldn’t actually happen, right? Somewhere along he way this guy must be embellishing or maybe this is just based on true events and not a true event itself. There’s no way this could have actually been pulled off.

It’s a cautionary tale of what money and power can do. I still don’t know if Holmes started with good intentions of changing the healthcare industry and saving lives only to get in way too deep, or was her goal always to just lie and cheat her way into fame and fortune? And why the scary low voice? There are so many intriguing things surrounding this story. It’s now spawned a movie and a Hulu series so we are nowhere close to done with this. There’s also a real life trial coming with real life consequences. This is the only the beginning, and now I’m fully invested to find out where this all ends.

...more

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Apr 07, 2019 Manuel Antão rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019

If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review.

Con-Artist: "Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup" by John Carreyrou

This story is fascinating. Yes, how was she able to rationalize lying and endangering so many -- investors, Walgreens, and especially the general public? It was good this book went into her family of origin. Holmes' father expected her to do something that would change the world. Did Elizabeth feel pressure to be some sort of genius influencer? She ...more

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May 21, 2018 TC rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: white-collar-crime

Just when I thought all reporters ever did anymore was see what was trending on social media and write stories with titles like "You'll cheer how this mom clapped-back at her body-shamers on Twitter," this book gives me hope that old-fashioned investigative journalism is alive and well and doing exactly what it's supposed to: shine an unflinching hot light on those who abuse their power and privilege. Here, it's aimed at the bizarre cult of Elizabeth Holmes and her "disruptive" "game changing" Just when I thought all reporters ever did anymore was see what was trending on social media and write stories with titles like "You'll cheer how this mom clapped-back at her body-shamers on Twitter," this book gives me hope that old-fashioned investigative journalism is alive and well and doing exactly what it's supposed to: shine an unflinching hot light on those who abuse their power and privilege. Here, it's aimed at the bizarre cult of Elizabeth Holmes and her "disruptive" "game changing" company, Theranos.

Silicon Valley is the epitome of mediocrity dressed-up as brilliance. Having wasted several years of my career working for two different Valley-based "start-ups" (one now on its 18th year of "staring up"), I saw a lot of familiar patterns in this thorough, well-organized and well-told story of how a teenaged college drop-out with all the right connections managed to bamboozle people who we would otherwise assume should know better. There was the usual unprofessional office behavior, the disorganization, the endless cheerleading bordering on religious hysteria about how "we're changing humanity!" all wrapped with the constant disregard for convention and ethics and the truth. In this case, there were a few new wrinkles: complete contempt for the law, and a willingness to bully people to the bitter end to protect their lies.

Although free of literary license and told straight-ahead as a journalistic piece, this book still reads a bit like a thriller. This could easily be adapted to a psychological horror movie, where young impressionable minds sold on the lie that Silicon Valley is full of the world's smartest people operating on a higher plane of existence go to work for a "disruptive" start-up, only to slowly have their perception of reality warped by the bullies running the place until they doubt themselves and everything they knew. At the top we have the calm, collected evil genius of Elizabeth Holmes, dressed the part all in black, speaking in hypnotic, reality-distorting tones, staring unblinking at you with massive blue eyes; to her right is her henchman and lover, a mysterious and wealthy older man named Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, who dishes out abuse, punishments, diatribes, and hatchet jobs with complete impunity, to the point you can hear the evil music swell every time his name is mentioned. In the Hollywood version of this story, he would get his comeuppance by being tossed from a cliff, to an eruption of cheers in the theater. (In real life we have to settle for an ongoing criminal investigation.) Backing them up are the tentacles of a powerful law firm; the mere mention of their name sends shivers down people's spines and causes them to give up before they even start. They deploy a nationwide network of spies who know your every move, and who almost literally leap out of the shadows (or in one case, down the stairs) to serve you with papers and bully you into signing away your life.

The duping of so many otherwise smart people is like a real-life retelling of Being There , where everyone believes that Holmes is a genius for no other reason than everyone else believes she is a genius. There is a passage of a recalled conversation with brand-name people attributing high qualities to her that she herself probably didn’t even say. Once again “too good to be true” took a back seat to “wanting to believe,” reminding us of how Bernie Madoff managed to scam a different group of supposedly smart people. Apparently no one is immune to magical thinking.

The author did an amazing job exposing this entire sham and documenting it in a way that gives a complete and chronological picture of what is likely just an extreme example of business-as-usual in Silicon Valley. The difference here is the scope and gravitas, since instead of a forgettable and unimportant software company, Theranos was a healthcare provider, operating in a heavily regulated industry, producing flawed results that directly affected patients' lives. (One person, for example, was out over $3,000 in unnecessary medical tests due to an erroneous blood diagnosis from Theranos. At least no one died, though another person is suing for a heart attack he said could have been prevented if their test had been accurate.) It was also an extreme example of paranoia and litigious bullying, using investor money to buy the finest in legal muscle to intimidate anyone and everyone: former employees, former board members, the journalist who broke the story (this book's author), the Wall Street Journal itself—even the doctors and patients who complained about faulty test results received a personal visit from Sunny, where he threatened to ruin their careers if they didn’t sign away their right to complain. It was one step below a global drug cartel.

So even if you never heard of Theranos before this scandal (like me), or are sick of seeing Elizabeth Holmes’ turtlenecked head all over the internet (also like me), this book is definitely worth reading, even if just for the schadenfreude it inspires.

And hopefully it will burst people’s notion that the Silicon Valley’s “disruption” is somehow wonderful. Far from being a bastion of the future, the Valley is firmly stuck in the past of its gold-rush days, and this book shows just how far some of those opportunists will go to protect their gains, even if at the expense of employees, investors, patients, doctors, regulators, and any one else they perceive as a threat. Perhaps next time, people will actually do their due diligence.

Most of all, I'm just thankful that real investigative journalism is alive and well and keeping us safe and free. Buy this book if for no other reason than that. ...more

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Aug 02, 2018 Tatiana rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, 2018

What an audacious fraud!

Elizabeth Holmes must be the Queen of self-hype to get so many powerful (and allegedly smart) men to support this scheme (Jim Mattis! Henry Kissinger!). I would enjoy seeing both her and Sunny Balwani in jail, for what they'd done not only to their customers, but their employees.

Although I am not a fan of Wall Street Journal and the baloney they peddle in their opinion pieces, I was impressed by how their investigative department stood up against legal pressures from ...more

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Feb 06, 2019 Maxwell rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, kindle, 2019

I loved (and was disturbed by) every second of this. It's the exact kind of investigative story that I find fascinating filled with strange figures, secrecy, and moments that will make you say "how is that possible?!" Not only an incredible story, but Carreyrou does an absolutely wonderful job in telling it. Though some of the science is fairly complex, he's able to explain it clearly enough to show you just how critical Theranos' missteps were and the impact it had on real people's lives. I ...more

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Jan 10, 2019 Carol (Bookaria) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, 2019, favorites, top-2019

A captivating, interesting, and (almost) unbelievable story. I had heard of Therano's downfall in the news, but the way this author investigated and narrated the events was absolutely remarkable.

The book details the rise and fall of Theranos, a Silicon-Valley company that aimed to provide fast, blood test results with a single drop of blood.

Elizabeth Holmes was the founder and CEO, her goal was to revolutionize the healthcare industry and, at some point, she was compared to the likes of Steve ...more

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Jul 04, 2019 Tim rated it did not like it · review of another edition

This winds up being the reporting of a scandal, dryly presented. 2 of 10 stars

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Dec 26, 2018 Rebecca McNutt rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, true-crime, history, science, finance, industry, crime

Oh, Silicon Valley, the place of realized dreams and sometimes of unexpected nightmares.

Bad Blood immediately drew me into buying a copy right when I read "a riveting story of the biggest corporate fraud since Enron" (I like to read about Enron as well as the less sunny side of modern corporate history). With the infamous story of Theranos splashing across the news and through media anyway, I figured now was as good a time as ever to actually read this book and learn more about exactly what Oh, Silicon Valley, the place of realized dreams and sometimes of unexpected nightmares.

Bad Blood immediately drew me into buying a copy right when I read "a riveting story of the biggest corporate fraud since Enron" (I like to read about Enron as well as the less sunny side of modern corporate history). With the infamous story of Theranos splashing across the news and through media anyway, I figured now was as good a time as ever to actually read this book and learn more about exactly what happened.

Right away I found myself disliking Elizabeth Holmes, a woman who fancies herself a visionary of the biotech industry who makes big promises to revolutionize the way we do blood testing. Unlike Enron's J. Clifford Baxter, who warrants sympathy on many levels and is somewhat likeable for wanting to come forward and blow the whistle on the bankrupt Huston giant, Holmes seems from this book to be rather conceited, self-indulgent and much more focused on money than actually helping people. When she can't deliver on what she offered and investors have devoted huge amounts of money into her technology, what unfolds is a massive fraud, and along with a weaselly boyfriend who only adds fuel to the fire, Holmes sets up a scam that burns brilliantly, but still crashes and burns all the same.

Reading Bad Blood was more like an engaging thriller than a non-fiction investigative true crime. With an easy-to-follow plot, language that the average layman can understand and a deep dive into the mentality behind somebody who deceives and impresses for profit, this book not only questions our undying innocence in regards to these great and charismatic dreamers and corporate tycoons, but also what led up to this chain of events. With the release of Lisa Jobs's Small Fry also in 2018, sharing a not-so-rosy side to the quirky Apple mogul Steve Jobs, Bad Blood is I think one of what will be more books to come telling the tales of people who aren't necessarily as altruistic as their image makes them out to be. There's something disturbing about Holmes's ruthlessness but at the same time there's also something we've seen before in one form or another - whether it's Martha Stewart or Jeffrey Skilling or Bernie Ebbers, these financial crimes have a habit of never being the last. ...more

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Sep 26, 2018 Michelle rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction

“Bad Blood” details the fascinating journey of a brilliant, soulless, young entrepreneur in pursuit of riches and fame. The story has heroes and villains, twisting and turning subplots, political intrigue and -even while we know the eventual outcome- plenty of surprises. It has all the elements of a good fictional thriller, but what makes this story most shocking and intriguing -- is the fact that it really happened. The details in this book will leave you shaking in your boots when you realize “Bad Blood” details the fascinating journey of a brilliant, soulless, young entrepreneur in pursuit of riches and fame. The story has heroes and villains, twisting and turning subplots, political intrigue and -even while we know the eventual outcome- plenty of surprises. It has all the elements of a good fictional thriller, but what makes this story most shocking and intriguing -- is the fact that it really happened. The details in this book will leave you shaking in your boots when you realize the scale of Elizabeth Holmes’ deception and the impact it might have had on public health.

While aware of the Theranos story playing out at the time, “Bad Blood” provides a more detailed accounting of events. This book doesn't sugar coat the bitter pill and is a triumph of investigative journalism. John Carreyrou's research and reporting for this book were outstanding! By exposing the fraud that Holmes and Theranos were, we now know that intelligent people were duped, money and resources were wasted, and lives were saved. Non-fiction is not really my cup of tea, but I find this captivating , well documented, and it’s narrated like a novel. Don’t let the blood testing science specifics in the first half drive you away --the second half more than makes up for it in drama, and it ramps up at the end.

I do carry some doubt that every word written in the book is true. Most of us will never know the whole story, and even every story has two sides. But Holmes certainly didn't make it easy to see her side of the story when all the facts were laid out. I felt Carreyrou tried to give an even hand as much as possible, but the evidence is too damning to be sympathetic on the very long term deception.

Transparency and accountability should be paramount in corporate governance, government, and personal relationships --and this is certainly reinforced in this book. While I find it disgusting what Holmes and Balwani did, I’m even more disappointed our society would allow such a sham to be perpetuated. No one brave enough to say “the emperor has no clothes!” Everyone wanted to believe in the story so badly, that no one did the basic due diligence on many of Theranos’ claims. We should all be grateful that there are people like Tyler Shultz and John Carreyrou out there.
...more

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About John Carreyrou

John Carreyrou

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John Carreyrou is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and a nonfiction author. His first book, Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup, chronicles Silicon Valley's biggest fraud.

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“When the officer asked what he’d taken, Sunny blurted out in his accented English, “He stole property in his mind.” — 25 likes

“A sociopath is often described as someone with little or no conscience. I’ll leave it to the psychologists to decide whether Holmes fits the clinical profile, but there’s no question that her moral compass was badly askew. I’m fairly certain she didn’t initially set out to defraud investors and put patients in harm’s way when she dropped out of Stanford fifteen years ago. By all accounts, she had a vision that she genuinely believed in and threw herself into realizing. But in her all-consuming quest to be the second coming of Steve Jobs amid the gold rush of the “unicorn” boom, there came a point when she stopped listening to sound advice and began to cut corners. Her ambition was voracious and it brooked no interference. If there was collateral damage on her way to riches and fame, so be it.” — 23 likes

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