Recommendation
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
This book comes highly recommended for anyone interested in business or anyone interested in the fall of Theranos. This book tells you exactly how not to run a business. It’s not only a great book for entrepreneurs, but it’s also a great book for anyone in a management position
What is – Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup?
Bad Blood covers the story of Theranos, a startup unlike any other in Silicon Valley. Theranos was a healthcare company that made medical devices used for testing blood. Though Theranos was a healthcare company, it tried to use a trick common in the tech industry of overpromising and underdelivering. This trick works in the tech industry because nobody’s life is on the line and often the technology does catch up to the hype.
Theranos tried this trick in one of the most regulated industries in the world and it did not work out for them. They are lucky that nobody died because of their blood testing inaccuracy. Rightfully so, Theranos was shut down and the founder Elizabeth Holmes, was put in Prison.
Who is Elizabeth Holmes?
Elizabeth Holmes is a very straightforward character once one realizes that’s what she is, a character. She’s an attractive, charismatic woman who managed to manipulate and lie her way to the top of not only Silicon Valley but the world.
She gained the trust of scientists, and statesmen, and even had a close relationship with the Obama administration. Many Important people supported her and sat on her board of directors. But her story starts much earlier than her starting Theranos.
When Elizabeth was a kid, she always wanted to be a successful entrepreneur. She was an insecure teenager who struggled with an eating disorder. She spent a summer in China where she was bullied by other students. This is when she first met Sunny Balwani who was instrumental in the downfall of Theranos.
Once out of high school Elizabeth studied electrical and chemical engineering at Stanford. At Standford, she met a couple of vital characters in the Theranos story, Shaunak Roy, and Channing Robertson. Channing Robertson was her professor who encouraged her to drop out and pursue her dream of starting her own company. Shaunak was her cofounder and as he had just finished his Ph.D. it was a convenient place to work for him.
What was the problem with Theranos?
Theranos could have been a great company that made a difference in the world had they spent more time in RND mode and not tried to go to market with a product that didn’t work. Theranos’ biggest problems were Elizabeth Holmes and Sunny Balwani.
Sunny was Elizabeth’s boyfriend, but she also brought him in to be the number two at the company. Together they became obsessed with secrecy claiming that their competition was trying to steal their technology. This may have been the case, but it’s much more likely that this secrecy was an effort to hide how much their technology lacked compared to what Theranos claimed its blood-reading medical devices could do.
My Thoughts on Bad Blood
Bad Blood is a well-written account of what happened at Theranos. Compiled John Carreyrou did a great job investigating what was going on and he did an excellent job telling the story of what happened not only at Theranos but also at the Wall Street Journal during the downfall.
I couldn’t believe the lengths that Elizabeth Holmes went to keep her technology secret. It’s also crazy how far she was willing to push when she felt she her company had been wronged. She lied almost constantly but what’s truly amazing is how she was able to convince others that her lies were true.
Like Steve Jobs, she emitted a reality distortion field which, when combined with the secrecy at Theranos, allowed her to win the trust of almost everyone she met. It is truly amazing how many people she won over and how many people she steamrolled to keep her ruse of a company going.
Should you read Bad Blood?
GLF Books highly recommends this book to anyone who wants to better understand what happened at Theranos. This book lays it all out in an unbiased, this is what happened kind of way. It’s fair to Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos while drawing you toward the conclusion that Theranos indeed was a bad company. The Theranos scandal is one that anyone interested in business should understand.
![](https://glfbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/cropped-GLF-Books-copy.png)
Leave a Reply