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melancholy_books's review against another edition
5.0
This is amazing. We can question her methods but I personally believe it's the influence around her that caused the disarray of her life. I also believe that she lost her connection to humanity and that caused a blinded view point, hidden with misgivings.
jess_mango's review against another edition
5.0
Fascinating book by WSJ investigative journalist John Carreyrou about the rise and fall of tech "unicorn' Theranos. Those of us in the software world are well aware of "demoware" that sometimes gets touted as the real deal, but when doing something similar in the realm of medical devices, it breaks regulatory rules and risks people's/patients' well-being. This book is obviously well-researched and the narrative is engaging and immediately grabbed my attention.
This book counts towards the Book Riot Read Harder 2019 Challenge task #5: A book by a journalist or about journalism.
This book counts towards the Book Riot Read Harder 2019 Challenge task #5: A book by a journalist or about journalism.
ricatanval723's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing journalism!
Carreyrou chronicled the start up and the different players of the company, starting and centralising around Elizabeth Holmes and her then boyfriend Sunny Balwani, with such detail that I could have been convinced that Carreyrou was a literal fly on the wall inside Theranos.
It's a good read for those interested in Corporate Governance, Silicon Valley start ups, and the tech world. It gives insight on how the mentality of corporate leaders strongly affect the organization and morale of the companies they run. Theranos was run by Holmes's paranoia and an extreme go-getter attitude that she threw morality and ethics out the window to try and make her company into the new Apple. Carreyrou showed us how Holmes's mentality and approach created an atmosphere of anxiety and quick turn-overs of personnel.
Apart from Corporate Governance, the book is a good lesson on ethics and the issue of whether the world even needs billionaires. Holmes had set aside issues of ethics and morality to get to her goal of becoming a self-made billionaire. Makes one question how the billionaires of our world have accumulated that much wealth without riding over human rights or other issues.
Carreyrou chronicled the start up and the different players of the company, starting and centralising around Elizabeth Holmes and her then boyfriend Sunny Balwani, with such detail that I could have been convinced that Carreyrou was a literal fly on the wall inside Theranos.
It's a good read for those interested in Corporate Governance, Silicon Valley start ups, and the tech world. It gives insight on how the mentality of corporate leaders strongly affect the organization and morale of the companies they run. Theranos was run by Holmes's paranoia and an extreme go-getter attitude that she threw morality and ethics out the window to try and make her company into the new Apple. Carreyrou showed us how Holmes's mentality and approach created an atmosphere of anxiety and quick turn-overs of personnel.
Apart from Corporate Governance, the book is a good lesson on ethics and the issue of whether the world even needs billionaires. Holmes had set aside issues of ethics and morality to get to her goal of becoming a self-made billionaire. Makes one question how the billionaires of our world have accumulated that much wealth without riding over human rights or other issues.
stephtherose_'s review against another edition
4.0
The entire Elizabeth Holmes/Theranos scandal is truly fascinating to me.
teokajlibroj's review against another edition
5.0
One of the best books I've read this year. An absolutely fascinating and thrilling description of this trainwreck of a startup. Basically imagine if the Fyre Festival was a startup.
wildweasel105's review against another edition
4.0
This book reads like a biomedical version of Enron. This fascinating investigative account takes place in Silicon Valley in 2014. Elizabeth Holmes, a Stanford drop out, created a revolutionary medical diagnostic lab device that not only promised the world faster and more accurate blood tests for virtually every condition a doctor could order for, but did so with only a drop of blood! Such a medical breakthrough placed her on the fast track for becoming one of the wealthiest people on the American stock market.However, the device, known as Theranos, was only just that…a promise. Holmes was also a brilliant salesman, capable of holding practically anyone in her thrall, including several of the most powerful players in the investment and retail pharmacy industries and world- renowned politicians as well.
I found this book absolutely riveting. I realized just how close the medical community came to having a device that could have caused incalculable harm to patient health. Theranos was a result of a culture of "fake-it-till-you-make-it" mentality, and the ever familiar problem of greed at all costs.
I found this book absolutely riveting. I realized just how close the medical community came to having a device that could have caused incalculable harm to patient health. Theranos was a result of a culture of "fake-it-till-you-make-it" mentality, and the ever familiar problem of greed at all costs.