Bad Blood

The investigative book Bad Blood by John Carreyrou tells the shocking story of the rise and fall of the company Theranos. I first heard about the company in 2017 when the news first broke. I was amazed to see how much was overlooked by investors regarding the science side of things and how the company grew so quickly without having firm evidence of the technologies working as advertised. The situation somewhat exposed the bubble of Silicon Valley, where individuals pump money into whatever companies they hear are hot from the venture capital giants. I’m not sure how often this happens, but I do know that most startups don’t make it in the long-run – so I’m assuming it’s occurring more often than most of us think.

I was also confused when learning about Elizabeth Holmes and her short-lived success, despite her age and experience. If I were investing in a company such as Theranos, I would’ve expected the lead to have some sort of medical or graduate school level scientific background. How was she so confident when evangelizing her company and selling faulty tests to large corporations like Walgreens when the technology didn’t even work? Was she delusional? My assumption is that perhaps she lied to herself so many times that she actually started to believe it. 

Lastly, it was empowering to learn about the two young whistleblowers who were around my age when they made the call. Fresh out of college, they weren’t afraid to stand up for what they knew was right, and did their best to hold up the integrity of the scientific process. Despite the fact that their lives were heavily and negatively impacted when they reported the wrongdoing by the lawyers, private investigators, and others, they persisted in bringing the truth to light.

• Readability 10/10
• Emotional connection 10/10