Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
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- Create Date：2021-04-08 10:51:17
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：John Carreyrou
- ISBN：1509868089
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Summary
The full inside story of the breathtaking rise and shocking collapse of a multibillion-dollar startup， by the prize-winning journalist who first broke the story and pursued it to the end in the face of pressure and threats from the CEO and her lawyers。
In 2014， Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes was widely seen as the female Steve Jobs: a brilliant Stanford dropout whose startup "unicorn" promised to revolutionize the medical industry with a machine that would make blood tests significantly faster and easier。 Backed by investors such as Larry Ellison and Tim Draper， Theranos sold shares in a fundraising round that valued the company at $9 billion， putting Holmes's worth at an estimated $4。7 billion。 There was just one problem: The technology didn't work。
For years， Holmes had been misleading investors， FDA officials， and her own employees。 When Carreyrou， working at The Wall Street Journal， got a tip from a former Theranos employee and started asking questions， both Carreyrou and the Journal were threatened with lawsuits。 Undaunted， the newspaper ran the first of dozens of Theranos articles in late 2015。 By early 2017， the company's value was zero and Holmes faced potential legal action from the government and her investors。 Here is the riveting story of the biggest corporate fraud since Enron， a disturbing cautionary tale set amid the bold promises and gold-rush frenzy of Silicon Valley。
In 2014， Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes was widely seen as the female Steve Jobs: a brilliant Stanford dropout whose startup "unicorn" promised to revolutionize the medical industry with a machine that would make blood tests significantly faster and easier。 Backed by investors such as Larry Ellison and Tim Draper， Theranos sold shares in a fundraising round that valued the company at $9 billion， putting Holmes's worth at an estimated $4。7 billion。 There was just one problem: The technology didn't work。
For years， Holmes had been misleading investors， FDA officials， and her own employees。 When Carreyrou， working at The Wall Street Journal， got a tip from a former Theranos employee and started asking questions， both Carreyrou and the Journal were threatened with lawsuits。 Undaunted， the newspaper ran the first of dozens of Theranos articles in late 2015。 By early 2017， the company's value was zero and Holmes faced potential legal action from the government and her investors。 Here is the riveting story of the biggest corporate fraud since Enron， a disturbing cautionary tale set amid the bold promises and gold-rush frenzy of Silicon Valley。
Reviews
Alen Belavić
，
What happens when a unicorn company is just a massive fraud machine？ Massive millions lawsuits that are still ongoing。 Good read。
Theresa Shrum
，
a fast read
Mattine
，
As a female entrepreneur， I have attempted to run our company with as much integrity and respect for others as possible。 Unfortunately， Elizabeth Holmes chose to do the exact opposite。 She created Theranos with the hope of providing health with a simple blood test。 The amount of collusion， coercion， and backhanded dealing is unbelievable。 Elizabeth's uncanny ability to have wealthy investors part with their money to invest in something that never worked is unbelievable。 As a female entrepreneur， I have attempted to run our company with as much integrity and respect for others as possible。 Unfortunately， Elizabeth Holmes chose to do the exact opposite。 She created Theranos with the hope of providing health with a simple blood test。 The amount of collusion， coercion， and backhanded dealing is unbelievable。 Elizabeth's uncanny ability to have wealthy investors part with their money to invest in something that never worked is unbelievable。 。。。more
Shefali Appali
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Ok this was so good。 I flew through the last 100 pages like it was nothing。 I'm baffled that this isn't fiction and one of the quotes behind the book is so accurate。 Everytime you think it can't possibly get worse， it does。 You'll be left with no sympathy for Holmes and Balwani， respect for the whistleblowers and admiration for John Carreyrou for such a well written documentation and storyline。 Ok this was so good。 I flew through the last 100 pages like it was nothing。 I'm baffled that this isn't fiction and one of the quotes behind the book is so accurate。 Everytime you think it can't possibly get worse， it does。 You'll be left with no sympathy for Holmes and Balwani， respect for the whistleblowers and admiration for John Carreyrou for such a well written documentation and storyline。 。。。more
Martin Cheung
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A captivating expose of what went down at Theranos。 Its bite-sized chapters make for easy binge reading。 Though at the end， I'm wondering if I could have just read the WSJ article。 I didn't learn that much from this aside from how easily some billionaire VCs are susceptible to the logical fallacy of believing in something because other people also do。 A captivating expose of what went down at Theranos。 Its bite-sized chapters make for easy binge reading。 Though at the end， I'm wondering if I could have just read the WSJ article。 I didn't learn that much from this aside from how easily some billionaire VCs are susceptible to the logical fallacy of believing in something because other people also do。 。。。more
Jillian Tourangeau
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Wow。 Very troublesome that something like this occurred so recently in time。 Eager to hear how her trial pans out。 Hopefully it is a very severe sentence to discourage this from ever happening again。
Pedro Portillo
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This book is a cautionary tale of what can happen when unchecked ambition is not levered with reasonable expectations。 Elizabeth Holmes is a bad person， but she is by no means the only shady character in this real life tale of lies， deception， and hubris。 This book proves that you can't rely on your influence and money to get what you want and make your problems go away。 Eventually， no matter how high you think you can ride， your own own false promises and empty words will make you come crashing This book is a cautionary tale of what can happen when unchecked ambition is not levered with reasonable expectations。 Elizabeth Holmes is a bad person， but she is by no means the only shady character in this real life tale of lies， deception， and hubris。 This book proves that you can't rely on your influence and money to get what you want and make your problems go away。 Eventually， no matter how high you think you can ride， your own own false promises and empty words will make you come crashing down。 。。。more
Crystal
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While some of the science and business logistics were a bit out of my scope， I had a very hard time putting this down！ It's surreal， and frankly， appalling， that any of this happened。 While some of the science and business logistics were a bit out of my scope， I had a very hard time putting this down！ It's surreal， and frankly， appalling， that any of this happened。 。。。more
André
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Really interesting book on the what looked like a promising company that would revolutionise the healthcare world 。。。 Instead it was one of the biggest Silicon valley's fiasco。 Really interesting book on the what looked like a promising company that would revolutionise the healthcare world 。。。 Instead it was one of the biggest Silicon valley's fiasco。 。。。more
John Bond
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In case you’ve been living in a cave in Antarctica for the past ~3 years， Theranos was a massively hyped “unicorn” healthcare startup that aimed to perform hundreds of blood tests from a single drop of blood pricked from your finger。No more needles！ No more vials of blood！Just one small problem: it is impossible to do this。Blood from your finger is different from the blood in your veins because it is partially oxygenated， it’s contaminated by interstitial fluid， and the volume is very low。In pla In case you’ve been living in a cave in Antarctica for the past ~3 years， Theranos was a massively hyped “unicorn” healthcare startup that aimed to perform hundreds of blood tests from a single drop of blood pricked from your finger。No more needles！ No more vials of blood！Just one small problem: it is impossible to do this。Blood from your finger is different from the blood in your veins because it is partially oxygenated， it’s contaminated by interstitial fluid， and the volume is very low。In plain English， there’s not enough data， so you can’t solve the problem with a medical device。You can do a few simple tests， such as the one for glucose levels， with finger-pricked blood， but not the hundreds of complex tests out there。Despite that， Theranos still managed to raise $900 million over the years at a peak valuation of $9 billion。But after more than a decade of lying to investors， threatening employees， and using non-functional devices to diagnose patients， Theranos finally began to implode in 2015。That’s when WSJ investigative reporter John Carreyrou received a tip about the company， began his deep dive into it， and finally published the article that sparked a firestorm。After that， the company’s trajectory resembled that of a spaceship being sucked into a black hole。Regulatory agencies banned Theranos from running a lab， Walgreens ended its partnership， the COO was forced out， investors and partners started suing the company， and the SEC charged the CEO and COO （Elizabeth Holmes and Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani） with massive fraud。A criminal investigation is underway， and indictments are likely。 Most likely， Theranos will soon be liquidated， and both the top executives will be in jail。This story is a textbook example of how to do everything wrong at a startup。And it’s a cautionary tale of what to avoid and how to detect deception if you’re an investor。So… How Did a North Korean Startup Survive for Over a Decade？Even if you’ve followed all the WSJ’s reporting on Theranos， you probably have one big question: How could such a fraudulent company last for so long？Didn’t anyone notice that the Empress had no clothes before a reporter came along？Bad Blood makes it clear that plenty of people were skeptical from the start。The company never published peer-reviewed literature， its Board of Directors consisted of fossilized former diplomats who knew nothing about medicine， and it never attracted serious life science VC investors。The original Ph。D。 student who founded the company with Elizabeth Holmes thought her first idea was “science fiction，” and dozens of disgruntled employees quit along the way， convinced that the entire operation was a Potemkin village。I can’t explain the company’s survival in one sentence， but here’s my summary:Business Partners: Walgreens was paranoid that CVS would get the technology first， so they entered the partnership without proper due diligence。 One skeptical consultant kept warning them， but he was silenced。 This one goes in the FOMO （“fear of missing out”） bucket。Investors: The company raised money mostly from family offices and VCs with no healthcare experience。 And they pointed to early investors， such as Tim Draper and Larry Ellison， as evidence that “the smart money” was on board。VCs with a track record in life sciences， such as Google Ventures and MedVenture Associates， passed when they realized the company couldn’t answer basic technical questions。Employees: Pretty much all the employees figured out that the company was a fraud， which is why turnover was extremely high。However， Theranos was super-secretive and used expensive lawyers and private investigators to threaten ex-employees who could have become whistleblowers。Regulators: Theranos operated in “regulatory no man’s land” by labeling its diagnostics “lab-developed tests，” which are not regulated by the FDA。Eventually， the regulators caught up to them and started conducting surprise lab inspections because of tips from anonymous ex-employees。Patients: The company used its broken device（s） to test patients in Arizona and California， which later resulted in ~1 million voided tests。Amazingly， they threatened doctors and patients who left bad Yelp reviews， but nothing could hide fraud on this scale。These live deployments finally pushed it over the edge and alerted the broader population to the scam。What I LovedI’ve followed the Theranos story closely， but Bad blood was great because it put together all the pieces in a logical order and gave them more emotional resonance。The book conveys superbly the human tragedy， ranging from patients who received the wrong diagnoses to employee Ian Gibbons， the chief scientist who “committed suicide” under suspicious circumstances。But what I loved most were the vividly drawn characters。In particular， “Sunny” Balwani， the #2 at Theranos， seems like an amalgamation of every single horrible VP in investment banking。Not only did he micromanage employees while knowing nothing about the product， but he also had the social skills of an autistic monkey。When an employee quit and refused to sign a confidentiality agreement， Sunny sent a security guard after him， called the police， and then told the police the employee stole property。When they asked what property was stolen， Sunny replied that the employee “stole property in his mind。”Oh， and the whole time Sunny was at the company， he was also in a romantic relationship with CEO Elizabeth Holmes， who was ~20 years younger。 。。。more
Kristy K
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Wow。 This almost reads like fiction because it seems like something like this could have and should have never happened in real life。 I cannot understand how Holmes and Theranos fooled so many people。 Carreyrou does a great job slowly exposing the truth behind the fraud that is Theranos。 I highly recommend。
Lily
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Wiiiild story and overall a fun read， but I feel like the inside view of Theranos is missing in like the second half of the book — when it would have been most useful。 And I’m not sure there’s a full characterization of Elizabeth Holmes （or Sunny Balwani） here。 I hope more gets written about all of this stuff when we have more benefits of hindsight。
Sanjana
，
Super engaging， but maybe went a little too deep for my personal interests。
Andrew
，
It's OK， wouldn't miss much if you didn't read it， but good enough for few hours。 Feels like the start of it is dragged out and takes too long， while the end is too short and seems rushed。 It's OK， wouldn't miss much if you didn't read it， but good enough for few hours。 Feels like the start of it is dragged out and takes too long， while the end is too short and seems rushed。 。。。more
KaYe
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This has to be another favorite book of mine after Steve Jobs。 Aside from the fact that the character in itself makes for a compelling read - she was the first female billionaire tech founder in Silicon Valley and she was only 22 （I mean who runs the world？ Girls！ let's go women empowerment wohoo！） - it was written really well， and it was so intense I couldn't put it down。 I can't believe the company lasted for more than 10 years， her lies were just insane， her star-studded board of directors an This has to be another favorite book of mine after Steve Jobs。 Aside from the fact that the character in itself makes for a compelling read - she was the first female billionaire tech founder in Silicon Valley and she was only 22 （I mean who runs the world？ Girls！ let's go women empowerment wohoo！） - it was written really well， and it was so intense I couldn't put it down。 I can't believe the company lasted for more than 10 years， her lies were just insane， her star-studded board of directors and investors was so amazing and how they just felt fascinated， bewitched and hypnotized with Elizabeth was crazy！ Especially for those interested in business and entrepreneurship， this book gives us a lot of lessons。 Yes， you can be really smart， genius even。 You can be charismatic， convincing， a great salesperson， with ferocious ambition and one who truly believes in an inspiring mission and vision。 But if your moral compass is badly askew and if you're ok with collateral damages on your way to riches and fame， then you've lost your way。 。。。more
Tucker Bateman
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As someone who codes/bills for a hospital’s central lab， I found this book fascinating。 I thought the author did a great job of telling the story from as many perspectives as possible， before telling it from his own。 It amazes me here in 2021 to think that someone believed that a “simple iPod”could essentially do everything done in labs by many certified professionals。 That’s not to say it won’t be done in the future， and that our technology isn’t amazing。 While I throughly enjoyed this story， f As someone who codes/bills for a hospital’s central lab， I found this book fascinating。 I thought the author did a great job of telling the story from as many perspectives as possible， before telling it from his own。 It amazes me here in 2021 to think that someone believed that a “simple iPod”could essentially do everything done in labs by many certified professionals。 That’s not to say it won’t be done in the future， and that our technology isn’t amazing。 While I throughly enjoyed this story， from the beginning I was bothered by Elizabeth’s statement that she simply wanted to make a lot of money。 No one should enter the healthcare industry simply to make money。。 we must love patients first。 Hopefully， this books sheds light on this type of toxic culture and roots out these mismanaged companies。 。。。more
Eric Micheels
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What a wild story。 Amazing that so many bright folks bought into the hype even when there were numerous red flags that something was amiss。
Jem
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Fascinating。 I knew it was a scam but didn’t know it was a scam from the very beginning。 The magnitude is astounding。
Kara
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Reads like a thriller even though it’s non fiction。 So well written and researched。
Alexandra
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A beautifully written exposé on Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes。 This book is a page-turner and it will keep you hooked until the end。
ANnA
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Unveiling the Thernos scandal， didn’t know anything really about this until now， very interesting read！ Dumbed down the medical talk for us plebs！
Ujjwala Singhania
，
My head is still reeling two days after reading this book。A teenager with a dream of becoming an entrepreneur and a billionaire。 A Stanford dropout with a vision of a cutting-edge technology that could revolutionize the health sector。 But is just having a vision enough？ Or does it need more to make that vision into a reality？In this hard-hitting investigative story， journalist John Carreyou traces the journey of Elizabeth Holmes and her startup Theranos which she set up to create and commerciali My head is still reeling two days after reading this book。A teenager with a dream of becoming an entrepreneur and a billionaire。 A Stanford dropout with a vision of a cutting-edge technology that could revolutionize the health sector。 But is just having a vision enough？ Or does it need more to make that vision into a reality？In this hard-hitting investigative story， journalist John Carreyou traces the journey of Elizabeth Holmes and her startup Theranos which she set up to create and commercialize a finger-stick blood testing devise which can be a painless and DIY kinda alternative of the existing venous blood draw by medical labs。 She was hailed as the first self-made female billionaire in a tech start-up and graced the cover of Forbes， Vogue， etc。No doubt the initial idea was a great concept capable of revolutionizing the whole sector， however， what follows is an obsession which hampered the advancement of the company's R&D， a blinkered and militant approach vitiating the workplace atmosphere， bad management leading to high employee attrition， harassment of ex-employees and a fraud of disbelieving proportion。 The people who fell prey to her charm and selling genius; and got scammed includes some of the biggest names on international stage。It is one of those books that you would enjoy reading even if you are not interested in Silicon Valley or anything remotely related it。 。。。more
Matthew Clarke
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Amazing book。 Tale of secrets， lies， corruption， bullying and some honest people who wouldn't put their patients in jeopardy。 Amazing book。 Tale of secrets， lies， corruption， bullying and some honest people who wouldn't put their patients in jeopardy。 。。。more
Jennifer
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All I can say is wow。 I don't remember the last time I was this gripped by a book。 From the first page， I was hooked。 It's hard to believe that the story of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos is not mere fiction。 I won't spoil it for anyone who wants to read， but it is scandal after scandal。 And as someone who works in the biotech industry， I was appalled at the continuous fabrication of data which literally put the health of patients at risk。 John Carreyrou did an amazing job of telling this story， All I can say is wow。 I don't remember the last time I was this gripped by a book。 From the first page， I was hooked。 It's hard to believe that the story of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos is not mere fiction。 I won't spoil it for anyone who wants to read， but it is scandal after scandal。 And as someone who works in the biotech industry， I was appalled at the continuous fabrication of data which literally put the health of patients at risk。 John Carreyrou did an amazing job of telling this story， I read this book every chance I got， I don't think I've even watched Netflix this week Lol I'm glad he was courageous in his pursuit to expose this dangerous company， and then retell the story so well。Definitely worth reading！ 。。。more
Jaana Pipke
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Totally gripping。 Had listened to a podcast version， but the book is so well-written， the story was definitely worth a deeper dive。
Nancy Machata
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4。5 stars。 This was truly compelling reading。 I was not familiar with the story so I enjoyed how the author developed his work slowly。 You are caught up in the story and can't wait to find out what the final outcome will be。 4。5 stars。 This was truly compelling reading。 I was not familiar with the story so I enjoyed how the author developed his work slowly。 You are caught up in the story and can't wait to find out what the final outcome will be。 。。。more
Debbie
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She certainly seems like a sociopath to me。 Ugh。 Reading what Holmes & company were doing put me right back into a similar mindset of astonishment and disgust that I had with the last presidential administration—lies， deception， unbelievable behavior and demands， & dupes who go right along with it。 Terrible。
M
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Wow！
beast
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fun！！！
Mana
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