Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup book cover

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup

Audio CD – Unabridged, May 7, 2019

Price
$7.14
Publisher
Random House Audio
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0593105061
Dimensions
5.06 x 1.14 x 5.85 inches
Weight
11.2 ounces

Description

" Bad Blood is the real be-all end-all of Theranos information…. Bad Blood is wild, and more happens on one page than in many other entire books." —Margaret Lyons, Thexa0New York Times "You will not want to put this riveting, masterfully reported book down. No matter how bad you think the Theranos story was, you'll learn that the reality was actually far worse." —Bethany McLean, bestselling coauthor of The Smartest Guys in the Room and All the Devils Are Here "Chilling...xa0Carreyrou tells [this story] virtually to perfection… Reads like a West Coast version of All the President's Men. " —Roger Lowenstein, The New York Times Book Review "The definitive account of Theranos’s downfall, detailing its motley crew of executives, legal knife fights, dramatic PR stunts, and skullduggery... Offers a lot for foreign-policy wonks... While Bad Blood is worth reading for its own merits—it’s a stunning feat of journalism that reads like a thriller—it also says a lot about Washington’s facile relationship with Silicon Valley. Most D.C. power brokers know next to nothing about science or technology but increasingly view Silicon Valley tech as a deus ex machina for some of the world’s most complicated challenges. Bad Blood offers a sobering warning of where that type of thinking can lead." —Robbiexa0Gramer, Foreign Policy "A great and at times almost unbelievable story of scandalous fraud, surveillance, and legal intimidation at the highest levels of American corporate power. . . . The story of Theranos may be the biggest case of corporate fraud since Enron. But it’s also the story of how a lot of powerful men were fooled by a remarkably brazen liar." —Yashar Ali, New York Magazine "Even if you didn’t follow the story of charismatic Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes (and the ensuing trainwreck) in the news, you will find yourself zipping through a book that proves once again that fact is stranger than fiction. A stunning look into a high-tech hoodwinking; like a high-speed car chase in a book." —The New York Post's "28 Most Unforgettable Books of 2018" "In Bad Blood, acclaimed investigative journalist John Carreyrou, who broke the story in 2015, presents comprehensive evidence of the fraud perpetrated by Theranos chief executive Elizabeth Holmes... He unveils many dark secrets of Theranos that have not previously been laid bare… xa0The combination of these brave whistle-blowers, and a tenacious journalist who interviewed 150 people (including 60 former employees) makes for a veritable page-turner." —Eric Topol, Nature "Engrossing… Bad Blood boasts movie-scene detail… Theranos, Carreyrou writes, was a revolving door, as Holmes and Balwani fired anyone who voiced even tentative doubts… What’s frightening is how easy it is to imagine a different outcome, one in which the company’s blood-testing devices continued to proliferate. That the story played out as it did is a testament to the many individuals who spoke up, at great personal risk." —Jennifer Couzin-Frankel, Science "In exposing the fudged numbers, boardroom battles and sickening sums of money tossed Theranos’ way, Bad Blood succeeds in highlighting Silicon Valley’s paradoxical blind spot. Insular corporate culture and benevolent media coverage have allowed a monster to grow in the Valley—one that gambles not just with our smart phones or our democracy, but with people’s lives. 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." —B. David Zarley, Paste Magazine's "16 Best Nonfiction Books of 2018" "Carreyrou blends lucid descriptions of Theranos’s technology and its failures with a vivid portrait of its toxic culture and its supporters’ delusional boosterism. The result is a bracing cautionary tale about visionary entrepreneurship gone very wrong." — Publishers Weekly (Starred) "Crime thriller authors have nothing on Carreyrou's exquisite sense of suspenseful pacing and multifaceted character development in this riveting, read-in-one-sitting tour de force.... Carreyrou's commitment to unraveling Holmes' crimes was literally of life-saving value." —Booklist (Starred Review) "Eye-opening... Axa0vivid, cinematic portrayal of serpentine Silicon Valley corruption...xa0A deep investigative report on the sensationalistic downfall of multibillion-dollar Silicon Valley biotech startup Theranos. Basing his findings on hundreds of interviews with people inside and outside the company, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning Wall Street Journal reporter Carreyrou rigorously examines the seamy details behind the demise of Theranos and its creator, Elizabeth Holmes… [Carreyrou] brilliantly captures the interpersonal melodrama, hidden agendas, gross misrepresentations, nepotism, and a host of delusions and lies that further fractured the company’s reputation and halted its rise." — Kirkus From the Artist John Carreyrou

Features & Highlights

  • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The gripping story of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos—one of the biggest corporate frauds in history—a tale of ambition and hubris set amid the bold promises of Silicon Valley, rigorously reported by the prize-winning journalist. With a new Afterword.
  • “Chilling ... Reads like a thriller ... Carreyrou tells [the Theranos story] virtually to perfection.” —
  • The New York Times Book Review
  • In 2014, Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes was widely seen as the next Steve Jobs: a brilliant Stanford dropout whose startup “unicorn” promised to revolutionize the medical industry with its breakthrough device, which performed the whole range of laboratory tests from a single drop of blood. 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 $4.5 billion. There was just one problem: The technology didn’t work. Erroneous results put patients in danger, leading to misdiagnoses and unnecessary treatments. All the while, Holmes and her partner, Sunny Balwani, worked to silence anyone who voiced misgivings—from journalists to their own employees.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(23.6K)
★★★★
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(9.8K)
★★★
15%
(5.9K)
★★
7%
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(-2748)

Most Helpful Reviews

✓ Verified Purchase

Better than the HBO version...

What an excellent book! I really enjoyed listening to the entire unabridged audio book while on a trip. The amazing story of Theranos, along with the author’s story of how he broke the story, is addictive and thought provoking. I could feel and understand the characters—those on the light side, and those that are the dark side. I intend to recommend this book to others...
1 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

A cautionary tale

Loved listening to this outstanding work of investigative journalism.
1 people found this helpful
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Compelling

Picked this up after viewing HBO's "The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley", which compliments the book in many ways. I got this on audio, and I found it very compelling. How a dropout could fool some presumably highly intelligent people is beyond me. Perhaps greed, coupled with being flattered by a young, 'attractive' con-artist was all it took and wanting to believe, all coming together to the point where everyone, except the experts, were conned. The story seems to intensify after the author is contacted to investigate past Theranos employees' allegations and the Theranos lawyers' fangs pop out. Hope the upcoming movie lives up to the book. I plan on wearing a Theranos T-shirt when I go to see it.
1 people found this helpful
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How to steal a billion dollars

Excellent account of how a woman with no legitimate scientific or medical background bamboozled Silicon Valley and credulous business executives out of nearly $1 billion. In the beginning, Elizabeth Holmes seems to have had an actual good idea, but she was too impatient to give her engineers time to make it work, so she changed her strategy to sell a truly terrible piece of equipment that she could overpromise on and raise huge amounts of money from. Once that decision was made, it was only a matter of time before the company collapsed. What is striking is the number of investors, corporate executives, and Washington insiders who were completely bamboozled by her style, the cachet of being the first woman billionaire inventor, and fear of missing out on the next next great thing. She destroyed hundreds of lives in the process, and the last chapters are still to be written, because Elizabeth Holmes does not go on trial for another year. It’s a fascinating tail especially if you are a student of the sciences, medical technology, or Silicon Valley. The audiobook is a great companion for a long drive.
✓ Verified Purchase

Intriguing!!!

I bought the book on CD for a road trip. It is so interesting and amazing how she got away without producing a product for 15 years. Yet, people continued to give her money hand over fist. Just because you have a great idea for something doesn't mean it will work. People were warned of the problems in the company yet she still manage to collect money and supporters. I loved the CD's, the reader was a great communicator.