Bad Blood was a gift by a friend of mine. I have to confess that I usually don't enjoy reading novels or similar literature. I only enjoy educational books, management literature and the like. I am a strange person. But that's the way it is.
So my good friend Max gave me Bad Blood.
Initially I was not sure what to do with the book. But after the first couple of pages I couldn't stop reading.
It's the story about Theraons and Elizabeth Holmes. About the unicorn-like rise of a company that wanted to revolutionize how blood-tests were made. And about its demise because everythng was built on lies. At the end the house of cards collapsed.
John Carreyrou was the investigative journalist that started to examine how the company operated. Many experienced people could not believe that a college drop-out (Holmes) was able to create a revolutionary way to test blood - without any specific knowledge in the matter.
The book describes the journey of John Carreyrou. From the first clues that something is wrong. To more clues to Theranos threatining him - to Theraons finally going bancrupt.
Noteworthy- Holmes got interesting personality traits. She's an excellent salesperson and an outright liar. A person that never accepted or wanted honest feedback.
- Fake it till you make it got its limits.
- Theranos used a technique of fear and awe and the power of corporate lawers to silence emplyoees.
- Compartementation of the company helped to keep knowledge separate from individuals, this helped to cover the scam. They actively used silos to manage the scam.
- At the end - Therano's blood tests were used by doctors. That is horrible, because the tests never really worked, and patients might have been injured. There a multiple law suits pending in 2020 regaring that.
Bonus: Watch Holmes present at TEDMED 2014:
Keep in mind that almost everything she says is made up or a lie. Her deep voice is fake. The story of her uncle that died (she had no close connection) is fake. And basically everything she says about Theranos is fake. Wow.
Verdict:Worth reading.