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A review by kathywadolowski
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou
5.0
An extremely engaging exposé with really shocking main players—it's amazing that this story is true, because it reads almost like a political thriller. Elizabeth Holmes is such a complicated character, and though you can vibe with her passion and her vision it's almost impossible to sympathize with her at all by the end of this book. Again, it's just hard to believe she's real, that a real human being could so blatantly (and seemingly convincingly) lie and not only get away with it, but THRIVE on it. It's not just the lying/fraud that boils my blood (not that Theranos would be able to detect that, ha), it's also the blatant disrespect for/bullying of employees and the people that took risks in pursuit of a shared vision. Especially after they had left Theranos and were stalked, harassed, and intimidated to force silence. Isn't that what they say about Watergate? That the coverup was worse than the crime? Well that's definitely true here.
That brings me to another really fascinating exploration within this book—the exploration of Silicon Valley culture, and the "fake it til you make it" attitude that pervades the tech industry. Holmes relied on this culture to keep the wheels turning until Theranos had a viable product, and even though the lengths she went to to deceive are pretty mind-boggling, from a bird's eye view that policy does make sense. WELL, hold on. It makes sense in tech.... but Theranos isn't only a tech company, is it? It's also a healthcare company, and in its own mind it was pursuing tech that would revolutionize healthcare and help people diagnose serious problems for less hassle and cost. A lofty, important vision, but a dangerous one in the hands of a company that lied about its ability to produce results. This difference is critical because it PUT PEOPLE IN REAL DANGER. It's hard to care about the billionaires losing investment money; and to some extent, isn't that what investment is about? Risk? So that part of the scheme isn't the most bothersome. It's the callous way Elizabeth Holmes was willing to put lives at risk to shield her company from scrutiny that makes her and her story so hard to stomach—and hard to forget.
That brings me to another really fascinating exploration within this book—the exploration of Silicon Valley culture, and the "fake it til you make it" attitude that pervades the tech industry. Holmes relied on this culture to keep the wheels turning until Theranos had a viable product, and even though the lengths she went to to deceive are pretty mind-boggling, from a bird's eye view that policy does make sense. WELL, hold on. It makes sense in tech.... but Theranos isn't only a tech company, is it? It's also a healthcare company, and in its own mind it was pursuing tech that would revolutionize healthcare and help people diagnose serious problems for less hassle and cost. A lofty, important vision, but a dangerous one in the hands of a company that lied about its ability to produce results. This difference is critical because it PUT PEOPLE IN REAL DANGER. It's hard to care about the billionaires losing investment money; and to some extent, isn't that what investment is about? Risk? So that part of the scheme isn't the most bothersome. It's the callous way Elizabeth Holmes was willing to put lives at risk to shield her company from scrutiny that makes her and her story so hard to stomach—and hard to forget.