--- product_id: 103826999 title: "Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup" price: "€ 25.15" currency: EUR in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.hr/products/103826999-bad-blood-secrets-and-lies-in-a-silicon-valley-startup store_origin: HR region: Croatia --- # Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup **Price:** € 25.15 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup - **How much does it cost?** € 25.15 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.hr](https://www.desertcart.hr/products/103826999-bad-blood-secrets-and-lies-in-a-silicon-valley-startup) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The gripping story of Elizabeth Holmes and T heranos — one of the biggest corporate frauds in history—a tale of ambition and hubris set amid the bold promises of Silicon Valley, rigorously reported by the prize-winning journalist. With a new Afterword covering her trial and sentencing, bringing the story to a close. “Chilling ... Reads like a thriller ... Carreyrou tells [the Theranos story] virtually to perfection.” — The New York Times Book Review In 2014, Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes was widely seen as the next Steve Jobs: a brilliant Stanford dropout whose startup “unicorn” promised to revolutionize the medical industry with its breakthrough device, which performed the whole range of laboratory tests from a single drop of blood. Backed by investors such as Larry Ellison and Tim Draper, Theranos sold shares in a fundraising round that valued the company at more than $9 billion, putting Holmes’s worth at an estimated $4.5 billion. There was just one problem: The technology didn’t work. Erroneous results put patients in danger, leading to misdiagnoses and unnecessary treatments. All the while, Holmes and her partner, Sunny Balwani, worked to silence anyone who voiced misgivings—from journalists to their own employees. Review: Unbelievable Deceit & Greed, Peppered with Humor. - This book is one of the best I've ever read! It's even more compelling than I'd imagined. I remember reading the Glamour article on Elizabeth Holmes when she and her company first blew up and became famous. I stared curiously at her photo, into her huge blue eyes, thinking: Wow, that's pretty admirable! I, like everyone else, was fooled by her deceit and manipulation. This is an intense story of blind ambition, corporate greed, legal intimidation, and relentless smoke and mirrors. John Carreyrou did extensive research to write this book, and it's written perfectly. I found myself bursting out loud with laughter at so many parts! These scientists, engineers, artistic directors and researchers under Holmes were human beings, trying to make a living, and making the best out of a bad situation that kept getting worse. They tried to get away with practical jokes and humor, and Carreyrou's plain language illustrating each ironic situation and tortured character just made the whole thing funnier. I honestly haven't laughed out loud from a book like this in a very long time. But a lot of what happens is also stunning and very serious. I often shook my head incredulously. Just when you think it can't get any crazier, it does. What was Elizabeth Holmes' end game? For such an intelligent, charismatic and ambitious young woman, how could she think her lies, cover-ups and shortcuts would actually amount to something good in the long run? She hadn't just fooled the world; she had fooled herself into thinking her success would last forever, and that her power and fame would overshadow any problems that arose. And the problems were numerous and consequential from the very start. Hundreds of people suffered as a result of unattainable goals being promised, and employees being forced to work against their own morals and better judgment, in a high stress environment (where people were consistently in fear of being fired, or being fired, then sued). As one confidential source put it, "The way Theranos is operating is like trying to build a bus while you're driving the bus. Someone is going to get killed." And that sums it up perfectly. Thank you to all the people brave enough to speak up about Theranos, despite insane legal pressure to keep quiet. Bad Blood is a fantastic book, one of my absolute favorites! (Unfortunately it got shipped to me slightly damaged in the corner.) Please read it!! Review: A Fascinating Change of Pace from My Usual Reading — Hard to Put Down - I usually stick to self-help and leadership books, so Bad Blood was a big change of pace for me — and honestly, it was a really intriguing read. The story pulled me in right away. It’s wild to see how much deception, ambition, and absolute chaos was happening behind the scenes at a company that was once hyped as the next big thing. What made the book so gripping is how real it all is. The author does a great job laying out the events, the people involved, and how things spiraled out of control, and it reads almost like a thriller even though it’s all true. Every chapter had me shaking my head at how far the lies went and how many red flags people ignored along the way. As someone who usually reads about strong leadership, integrity, and building good culture, this was almost the opposite — and it made the lessons hit even harder. It shows what happens when leaders chase hype instead of honesty, and how bad things get when no one is willing to speak up. Overall, Bad Blood was a refreshing break from my usual genre and a surprisingly eye-opening read. If you like real-life stories filled with drama, scandal, and unbelievable decisions, this one is definitely worth it. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #17,030 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #1 in Venture Capital (Books) #2 in Business Infrastructure #42 in Entrepreneurship (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.7 out of 5 stars 33,592 Reviews | ## Images ![Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71j5+5Uy2AL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Unbelievable Deceit & Greed, Peppered with Humor. *by P***A on February 26, 2019* This book is one of the best I've ever read! It's even more compelling than I'd imagined. I remember reading the Glamour article on Elizabeth Holmes when she and her company first blew up and became famous. I stared curiously at her photo, into her huge blue eyes, thinking: Wow, that's pretty admirable! I, like everyone else, was fooled by her deceit and manipulation. This is an intense story of blind ambition, corporate greed, legal intimidation, and relentless smoke and mirrors. John Carreyrou did extensive research to write this book, and it's written perfectly. I found myself bursting out loud with laughter at so many parts! These scientists, engineers, artistic directors and researchers under Holmes were human beings, trying to make a living, and making the best out of a bad situation that kept getting worse. They tried to get away with practical jokes and humor, and Carreyrou's plain language illustrating each ironic situation and tortured character just made the whole thing funnier. I honestly haven't laughed out loud from a book like this in a very long time. But a lot of what happens is also stunning and very serious. I often shook my head incredulously. Just when you think it can't get any crazier, it does. What was Elizabeth Holmes' end game? For such an intelligent, charismatic and ambitious young woman, how could she think her lies, cover-ups and shortcuts would actually amount to something good in the long run? She hadn't just fooled the world; she had fooled herself into thinking her success would last forever, and that her power and fame would overshadow any problems that arose. And the problems were numerous and consequential from the very start. Hundreds of people suffered as a result of unattainable goals being promised, and employees being forced to work against their own morals and better judgment, in a high stress environment (where people were consistently in fear of being fired, or being fired, then sued). As one confidential source put it, "The way Theranos is operating is like trying to build a bus while you're driving the bus. Someone is going to get killed." And that sums it up perfectly. Thank you to all the people brave enough to speak up about Theranos, despite insane legal pressure to keep quiet. Bad Blood is a fantastic book, one of my absolute favorites! (Unfortunately it got shipped to me slightly damaged in the corner.) Please read it!! ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Fascinating Change of Pace from My Usual Reading — Hard to Put Down *by S***M on November 23, 2025* I usually stick to self-help and leadership books, so Bad Blood was a big change of pace for me — and honestly, it was a really intriguing read. The story pulled me in right away. It’s wild to see how much deception, ambition, and absolute chaos was happening behind the scenes at a company that was once hyped as the next big thing. What made the book so gripping is how real it all is. The author does a great job laying out the events, the people involved, and how things spiraled out of control, and it reads almost like a thriller even though it’s all true. Every chapter had me shaking my head at how far the lies went and how many red flags people ignored along the way. As someone who usually reads about strong leadership, integrity, and building good culture, this was almost the opposite — and it made the lessons hit even harder. It shows what happens when leaders chase hype instead of honesty, and how bad things get when no one is willing to speak up. Overall, Bad Blood was a refreshing break from my usual genre and a surprisingly eye-opening read. If you like real-life stories filled with drama, scandal, and unbelievable decisions, this one is definitely worth it. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent Read, but It Ain't Over Yet *by B***D on June 28, 2018* A unicorn in the investment world is a startup with a massive valuation, which always felt like an insult to entrepreneurs building very real products and services. A unicorn, in the rest of the world, is a mythical creature that doesn't existed so I guess they finally got it right when Theranos was called a unicorn. Like Ringling Brothers, they strapped a horn on a goat and marketed it as a real thing. And everyone bought it. Bad Blood was a fast and exciting read, and relatively easy, worth mentioning because there's a reasonable amount of science in there. As everyone surely knows, this is the story of a company that lied and the idiots who believed them to the tune of billions of dollars. But ultimately, it's a book about incompetence, and just how many people in this world are completely incompetent and unqualified to do their jobs. At least we can take comfort that investigative journalists are fairly competent and can reveal the incompetence of others. Theranos should never have gotten as far as they did and was only able to do so because of negligence all around. And while I appreciate that I got to read the details of this insane story at this point in time, we'll need a sequel in a few years once the dust settles. This case is still ongoing and therefore the ending is still open, which made the end of this book feel somewhat unsatisfactory. I am especially interested to learn how the good people in this story, the ones with sense and ethics, ended up. I want to know if Rochelle sued Holmes' turtleneck off. I want to know who was behind the surveillance. I want to know what excuses the failed Board members have come up with. I want to know what excuses the VCs came up with. And I want Holmes and Sunny to get what's coming to them. Commentary: Most non-fiction books are actually about incompetence. True crime, history, war, these books are filled with people who should never have been given the jobs they have, and Bad Blood is no exception. Obviously the leadership of Theranos were abject failures. Their Board of Directors were a bunch of doddering, dotty seniors who led a company that has a technology they never understood, and who completely failed in their duty to manage and monitor their CEO on behalf of their shareholders. The Venture Capitalists did not perform sufficient due diligence nor did they properly monitor their portfolio. We know they were too busy drooling over the valuation and pre-counting their investment carry to bother to look into the lies. Have you ever met a finance guy who is a blood science expert? In 20 years in finance, I have never met one, and yet investors believed them when they say a blood testing technology works without a shred of evidence. So the investors failed as well, and continue to fail by giving them a pass on their negligence. The regulators were also a bit incompetent, though I suspect their SOPs prevent them from being as effective as they can be. Nor should regulators be susceptible to pressure from politically connected investors and Board Members, but they are. US military leadership, including Sensible Dog Mattis formerly known as Mad Dog Mattis, also proved themselves to be incompetent and biased to the extent that they're willing to put our soldiers' health at risk. Theranos's corporate partners, who stuck with Theranos after years of continuous failure to deliver on their promises, were hilariously incompetent. I am very grateful that the states, and not the idiot pharmacies, set the standards for patient care in their stores. Anyone still in favor of deregulating the medical field and taking power away from the FDA should exclusively use Theranos testing devices for their family's health decisions. The most inspiring characters in this book were the youngsters like Erika and Tyler, who came out of college with a strong sense of personal ethics that they refused to give up, regardless of what the "grownups" told them to do. Tyler stood strong even as his own grandfather, Secretary of State George Schultz, tried to muscle him with lawyers, but Tyler showed grandpa what honor looks like. I'd hire those kids in a NY minute just based on their conviction, and I hope neither this experience nor any other breaks down their will and sense of right and wrong. Will Silicon Valley and venture capital learn from this mistake? Nope! The fact is that they're still showing returns to their investors who do not care how the money is earned, as long as there are no legal or tax ramifications. But I am especially interested to how pensioners feel about VCs using CalPERS funds to invest in scams like Theranos, since the risk is much greater for them than your average venture investor. Remember Moral Hazard? Silicon Valley doesn't. ## Frequently Bought Together - Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup - The Story of More: How We Got to Climate Change and Where to Go from Here - Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer's Twenty-Year Battle against DuPont --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.hr/products/103826999-bad-blood-secrets-and-lies-in-a-silicon-valley-startup](https://www.desertcart.hr/products/103826999-bad-blood-secrets-and-lies-in-a-silicon-valley-startup) --- *Product available on Desertcart Croatia* *Store origin: HR* *Last updated: 2026-06-06*