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Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup Paperback – 12 March 2019
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The shocking true story behind The Dropout, starring Amanda Seyfried, Naveen Andrews and Stephen Fry
'I couldn’t put down this thriller . . . the perfect book to read by the fire this winter.' – Bill Gates
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 founded by Elizabeth Holmes, 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 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 testing 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 more than $9 billion, putting Holmes's worth at an estimated $4.7 billion. There was just one problem: The technology didn't work.
In Bad Blood, John Carreyrou tells the riveting story of the biggest corporate fraud since Enron, a tale of ambition and hubris set amid the bold promises of Silicon Valley.
'Chilling . . . Reads like a West Coast version of All the President’s Men.' – New York Times Book Review
- Print length320 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherPicador
- Publication date12 March 2019
- Reading age18 years and up
- Dimensions12.9 x 2.4 x 19.6 cm
- ISBN-101509868089
- ISBN-13978-1509868087
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Review
A dazzling story of deception in Silicon Valley . . . You will not be able to put this book down. ― Washington Post
Carreyrou tells the story virtually to perfection . . . Bad Blood reads like a West Coast version of All the President’s Men. ― New York Times Book Review
Riveting . . . a blistering critique of Silicon Valley . . . The real heroes, though, are his sources: the young scientists who worked at the company and risked their reputations and careers by voicing their concerns. Were it not for their courage, Theranos might still be testing blood today -- David Crow ― Financial Times
If you’re looking for an engaging non-fiction read, look no further than Bad Blood . . . a pacy, compelling narrative about white-collar crime that’s as incredible as any work of fiction. ― Irish Times
In this Silicon Valley drama, he opens his reporter’s notebook to deliver a tale of corporate fraud and legal browbeating that reads like a crime thriller. -- The 10 Best Nonfiction Books of 2018 ― TIME
Gripping . . . Carreyrou presents the scientific, human, legal and social sides of the story in full . . . He unveils many dark secrets of Theranos that have not previously been laid bare. ― Nature
A parable, with all the usual, delicious ingredients of human folly: greed, pride, vanity, lust, anger. Above all, it is an analysis of the phenomenon of hype. ― Daily Telegraph
Simply one of the best books about a startup ever. ― Forbes
Bad Blood reveals a crucial truth: outside observers must act as the eyes, the ears and, most importantly, the voice of Silicon Valley’s blind spot . . . It gambled not with our smart phones, our attention or our democracy, but with people’s lives. ― Paste
Engaging ― The Economist
A beautifully controlled narrative that challenges the gold-rush mentality of Silicon Valley. -- Lionel Barber, Editor of the FT, 'Books of the Year 2018' ― Financial Times
[Holmes') story is a parable about Silicon Valley delusion, but the gossipy fun comes from seeing which high-profile man (James Mattis, Joe Biden) gets drawn into Holmes’ scammy web next. -- ‘Best Books of 2018’ ― ELLE
Carreyrou tells the full, gripping tale of how he slayed the “unicorn” in a fascinating look at how buzz and billions can blind people to facts. -- ‘Best Books of 2018’ ― Marie Claire
You will not be able to put this down. -- Top tech book releases in 2018 ― Evening Standard
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Product details
- Publisher : Picador; Main Market edition (12 March 2019)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 320 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1509868089
- ISBN-13 : 978-1509868087
- Reading age : 18 years and up
- Dimensions : 12.9 x 2.4 x 19.6 cm
- Best Sellers Rank: 63,680 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 11 in Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Industry
- 29 in Documentary Films
- 43 in Biotechnology (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
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. Please direct any speaking queries to speakers@penguinrandomhouse.com
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As a former venture capitalist for 25 years this book is fascinating reading. Most books derived from Silicon Valley are hagiographic biographies of successful founders. This tells the story of an unbelievable failure, namely the rise and fall of Theranos.
The company was founded in 2003 by 19-year-old Elizabeth Holmes. It raised more than $700 million and achieved a maximum valuation of $10 billion in 2013. Theranos operated in the blood testing market claimed its technology was revolutionary and that its tests required only about 1/100 to 1/1,000 of the amount of blood that would ordinarily be needed and cost far less than existing tests.
The problem was the technology did not work but this did not Holmes and her Chief Operating Officer, Sunny Balwani, acting dishonestly to raise money from investors and signing contracts with Walgreens and Safeway. Various employees along the journey tried to act as whistle-blowers either about the technology or financial projections. Every time they were accused of not being a team player, summarily dismissed, made to sign non-disclosure agreements, and threatened with lawsuits from the highest profile lawyer in the USA, David Boies.
The turning point was in October 2015, when investigative reporter John Carreyrou of The Wall Street Journal questioned the validity of Theranos' technology. Since then, the company has faced a string of legal and commercial challenges from medical authorities, investors, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), state attorneys general, former business partners, patients, and others. Bad Blood published in May 2018 chronicles the decline. On June 15, 2018, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California announced the indictment of Holmes on wire fraud and conspiracy charges. Balwani was also indicted on the same charges. What amazes me is that Holmes, while no longer CEO, is still the Chairman of Theranos.
My favourite take-aways from the book are three. Firstly Holmes tried every trick to stop Carreyrou publishing his first article. In particular she lobbied Rupert Murdoch, owner of the Wall Street Journal, and who had invested $125 million in Theranos. Rupert, to his credit, said he did not interfere in the editorial side of his businesses and let the article run.
Secondly Carreyrou trying to work out what made Holmes tick suggests she is a sociopath. I disagree, she is a corporate psychopath, totally genetically driven by the desire to make money and if not blessed with a moral compass will unreserved lie and use fraudulent methods to achieve economic success. Holmes is Hustler/GoGetter in my emotional intelligence profiling technology. The giveaway was when she was nine years old and asked what she want to be when she grew up, she replied a billionaire. When she was asked whether she would rather be President, she said no because the President would want to marry her because she had a billion dollars.
Finally, Carreyrou is mystified by the relationship between Holmes and Balwani in that they were in a relationship together. One of great lessons of my emotional intelligence workshops is that we like those who are like ourselves. Balwani was as a much a psychopath as Holmes. He would fake his scientific knowledge causing much humour among his employees but was utterly ruthless in his treatment of them.
One can only have sympathy for the employees of Theranos. Working for one corporate psychopath at the top is bad but working for two psychopaths at the top would be unbearable.
This is the story of the spectacular rise and fall of a silicon valley startup that was going to change the world. Theranos was the brainchild of Elizabeth Holmes a twenty-something wunderkind. Its main product was going to revolutionize blood testing by doing away with nasty big needles and use a tiny drop of blood to perform hundreds of medical tests. It's a great idea - a shame it never got close to working.
With her wide blue eyes and unexpectedly deep voice, she bamboozled everyone. Carreyyou tells the long sordid tale, interviewing scared Theranos workers, doctors trying to use their products, and even distraught patients. But there is very little analysis. At the end of the book we still don't know how board members like George Schulz and Henry Kissinger (both previous US secretarys of state, successful business men and diplomats), and top investor Rupert Murdoch (super smart media mogul), and many other similarly accomplished men all invested literally hundreds of millions of dollars into this enterprise - without ever seeing anything remotely like a properly working machine. Entire boards of huge companies (such as Walgreens and Safeway) totally supported her project, and started the roll-out of defective devices in their stores. On top of all that, many doctors quickly saw that the results of the Theranos tests were wrong. But the caravan continued to roll on... people continued to invest vast amounts of money... business institutions continued to heap praise and awards on Ms Holmes. It is just crazy...It's not enough to just say Holmes had charisma and charm. There must be more to it than that. People really wanted it all to be true.
The book's release is somewhat premature. At the time of publication, Theranos was still a working company, although its workforce has been reduced from a spectacular 800 to a mere couple of dozen, and the law suites and investigations have a long way to go. We still don't know what penalties are going to be handed out to Holmes (and her shady co-conspirator, Sunny Balwani), if any, for their monstrous fraud.
The story is told in competent, if somewhat pedestrian style. The facts are there, but the person at the centre of the book, Elizabeth Holmes, remains a mystery. Was she just an extraordinarily gifted charlatan? Or a psychopath, having no empathy at all with the thousands of people she was harming? Even after her company has collapsed, she seems to show no contrition or even understanding of what she has done. Perhaps it will take another book to explain the psychology behind Holmes and those who fell under her spell.
It’s a good lesson in the power of persuasion. There were so many instances where Holmes, when confronted with attestations of fraud, persuaded some of America’s smartest minds that she was genuine.
Top reviews from other countries
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Die Story ist packend und obwohl man weiß, wie es ausgeht, baut sie sehr gut Spannung bis zum Finale (der Veröffentlichung von Carreyrous Artikel) auf. Unglaublich, wie viele Mitarbeitenden bei Theranos verschlissen wurden und sich vollkommen überarbeitet haben, um das Schiff zu retten. Bei vielen ging es nicht gut aus. Das nimmt man Elizabeth Holmes (neben dem Betrug der Investoren natürlich) beim Lesen sehr übel. Was für eine schreckliche Chefin.
Man lernt auch viel über die medizinische Technik hinter Bluttests.
If books like The Lean startup, Zero to One, The Innovation Stack, and The Right it showed us how startups and entrepreneur's drive an idea or initiative to success, Bad Blood brings out examples of how not-to run a startup, across technical, people-centric, and impact-centric angles. Just like I recommended the former books, I would also recommend Bad Blood as a book that warns any prospective entrepreneur on pitfalls and mindsets that would lead to downfall in a startup culture
John's writing literally transports you, as an invisible viewer, as the events get recorded and at one point in time, you will feel, why you couldn't have stopped what Elizabeth Holmes was trying to do to the characters in the book. John's integrity and moral compass show through, even as he is tried to be intimidated by Theranos lawyers at crucial points in the story. His ethical stance against letting go of sources and withstanding fire from the dragon's mouth are inspiring, to say the least. John's character descriptions and the capturing of emotions all across the book is one of the strong points of his writing that help readers to visualize the characters in their minds vividly
All said, I am happy that I had the chance to read the book, before the movie potentially in the works gets released, with Jennifer Lawrence set to play Elizabeth Holmes (at the time of my writing this)