Book Review — Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup

I read this book on the heels of a COVID-19 diagnosis so a book about a vision where personal medical information/diagnosis is available nearly everywhere and in near real-time was quite timely. I was sequestered in isolation, per protocol, and it took just a few days to turn all 300 pages of the book. As a side note the physical book pages were very thick in the hardcover edition; I mean quite extra-ordinarily thick. John Carreyrou, the author, did a wonderful job presenting the incredible story in a manner that left me on the edge of my seat. I had followed the Theranos story as a reader of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and New York Times, as well as through 60 Minutes coverage. Carreyrou first came upon the story in his capacity writing for the WSJ . One of the great facets of the book was the editorial process and backroom dealings at the WSJ in writing about fraud at a company whose founder and CEO was invited and spoke at the WSJDLive 2015 Conference.

The book was a detailed account of what occurred at Theranos and more importantly, the personalities that led to the rise and fall of Theranos — what was once one of the most highly regarded startups in Silicon Valley. If there’s much to be learned from the book it’s that being a skeptic isn’t all that bad. I would be remiss if I didn’t point out the similarity in the Theranos story and Malcolm Gladwell's thesis in Talking to Strangers which is that ‘The Truth About Lies: We’re Terrible at Spotting Them’. We are biased in our desire to believe in something like Theranos, the pursuit of making the world and our lives better.

I was awestruck by what I read and the number of people that we’re duped in the tale of pursuing such a noble cause. The outcome is not surprising when you pair this with Malcom Gladwell’s thesis. It wasn’t too good to be true — rather, it was so good we wanted it to be true!

Book Rating 7.5/10