Bad Blood
by John Carreyrou · first published 2018
57% recommend43% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Well-reported account of the Theranos fraud, covering the technical impossibility of the product, the high employee turnover, and how Holmes retaliated against whistleblowers. Suits anyone interested in startup failure.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup is a nonfiction book by journalist John Carreyrou, released May 21, 2018. It covers the rise and fall of Theranos, the multibillion-dollar biotech startup headed by Elizabeth Holmes. The book received critical acclaim, winning the 2018 Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award.
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Highly enjoyed Bad Blood and recommend it to anyone interested in some fine investigative journalism. I think the most disappointing thing about this whole saga is that (in theory) the Theranos technology was supposed to be…
on “Blood-Testing Firm Theranos to Dissolve” ↗…craze to the dotcom boom. 2) If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look On My Face? by Alan Alda Alan Alda of MASH fame teaches you how to build more empathy and improve your communication skills. 3) Bad Blood by James Carreyou Theranos. Enough said. 4) Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan by Steve Coll I think of this as the last book in Coll's unofficial trilogy…
on “Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?” ↗This isn't quite in the category, but John Carreyrou's nonfiction book "Bad Blood", which covered the rise and fall of Theranos, satisfied me in a similar way. There's plenty of crime, although it's really about pretending to be high-tech rather than actually being high tech. For people…
on “Ask HN: Recommendations of good cybercrime novels?” ↗Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou The ride to the top and then rock bottom for Theranos is a wild one, and the author does a great job of not letting you put this book down…
on “Ask HN: Recommend one book I need to read this summer?” ↗…of articles published in The Wall Street Journal. Highly recommend reading his book that gives a detailed account on how he went about taking on Theranos: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37976541-bad-blood
on “Elizabeth Holmes 'gave me gobbledygook answers' back in 2014” ↗* Why We Sleep, by Matthew Walker * Masters of Doom, by David Kushner * What Doesn't Kill Us, by Scott Carney * Bad Blood, by John Carreyrou * The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondō * How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, by Scott Adams
on “Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?” ↗I know it's already been mentioned, but John Carreyrou's "Bad Blood" is a must-read. Even as someone who read and enjoyed every story published in the WSJ about Theranos, the book managed to have even more context and incredible (and hilarious) reporting. It's a book…
on “Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?” ↗It does indeed. The question you are asking leads me to believe you haven't read it. As a favor to the thread I will make this plain: drop everything else you're reading long-form and buy a copy of _Bad Blood_; it is fantastic. I didn't give a shit about Theranos. Until I got a couple pages into Carreyrou's book, that is.
on “Rules for Choosing Nonfiction Books” ↗Bad Blood by John Carreyrou, a book about the infamous blood testing startup Theranos. I couldn't put it down. Read the whole thing in a day and a half. It's basically a gripping thriller set in Silicon Valley.…
on “Ask HN: Read any good books lately?” ↗…declaring bankruptcy. Highly recommend that book if anyone you know has struggled with addiction or if you just want a really gripping nonfiction read. I found it as well written and in-depth researched as Bad Blood by John Carreyrou.
on “Where is the scrutiny over FDA’s role in the overdose epidemic?” ↗If you haven't read the book "Bad Blood" by John Carreyrou I think you should give it a try. I think it's really worth it.
on “Elizabeth Holmes urged employees to hide Theranos’ lab equipment from inspectors” ↗…wrote about Jobs, Isaacson probably had the most exposure to all the sides of Jobs and might have the truest depiction of Jobs, erratic persona and all. It just wasn't interesting to read. In contrast, "Bad Blood", the new book about Theranos by John Carreyrou, the WSJ reporter who exposed Theranos, has a thorough and entertaining depiction of Elizabeth Holmes, even though she has refused every of his interview…
on “Ted Dabney, a Founder of Atari and a Creator of Pong, Has Died” ↗…As someone who has spent a lot of time around startups, the amount of employee turnover was one of the craziest -- indicative in hindsight -- things in John Carreyrou's extremely well-reported book, "Bad Blood." Most startup boards would have looked at that level of employee turnover and realized that there was something much worse going on than a young founder without much management experience doing a poor…
on “U.S. Files Criminal Charges Against Theranos’s Elizabeth Holmes, Ramesh Balwani” ↗1. Measure What Matters - John Doers book about OKR’s is awesome, best business book since Lean Startup 2. Bad Blood - Just started it and it reads like John Grisham 3. The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaur - Narrative about dinosaurs, I’m excited 4. Cork Dork - Great book about wine and Sommeliers 5. Waterloo: The History…
on “Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?” ↗Still shook by John Carreyrou's Bad Blood. Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes chronicle. No discernible "style" to the writing. But the facts are chilling enough. Scale of the deception is pathological and systemic. Seeing trusting people treated…
on “Ask HN: Which book(s) did you read this summer?” ↗