Note: Please read this week’s show notes in a fake voice one octave lower than usual as an ode to Elizabeth Holmes. If you don’t get that joke, watch this video and then come back.

This week we’re diving into Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup, John Carreyrou’s journalistic investigation of the rise and fall of the multi-billion dollar biotech startup, Theranos, founded by Elizabeth Holmes. Once lauded as a female Steve Jobs, Elizabeth Holmes dropped out of Stanford with a patent for a compact blood-testing system she claimed could perform blood tests cheaper and faster than current technology, and all with just a few drops of blood. Theranos attracted billions in venture capital investments. The only problem was that the technology didn’t work—and it never had. Now, she and her longtime romantic and business partner, Sunny Balwani, are facing criminal charges.

Summary of the book (3:00)

Our key takeaways (6:34)

Kate's question (39:44)

Mollie's quote (58:00)

References: It's an Illusion, Michael

Music by Waterboi via Pixabay