Elizabeth Holmes is the youngest self-made female billionaire in the world. She’s the founder of biotech firm Theranos, a clever combination of the words “therapy” and “diagnosis.” Holmes and her team set out to revolutionize the blood testing industry.

They would make the whole process faster, easier, and more reliable. They would reduce the amount of blood needed to a simple pinprick on your finger. No more scary needles. With 10 microliters of blood a little machine called the Edison would tell you how you were responding to a new drug or monitor your health conditions.

The Edison

Or so they said. At its height, Theranos had large contracts with Safeway and Walgreens to put these machines in stores. The idea was that you’d walk into a “Wellness Center” within the store, prick your finger, then relax or shop until your results were ready. You’d go on your merry way newly empowered to make medical decisions. Who knows, you might someday even have an Edison in your home.

Sound crazy? Then again, who would have predicted 50 years ago that you’d be carrying a computer in your pocket and using it to make phone calls, listen to music, stream movies, and contact your friends? Forget what you thought was possible. Holmes was out to change the world.

Pride Comes Before the Fall

Holmes is a college drop-out turned entrepreneur like Steve Jobs, whom she deeply admired. She wore black turtlenecks daily to reinforce the comparison. Having started her company in 2004, Holmes peaked in 2014-2015. The FDA had just approved the company’s proprietary finger-stick test for HSV-1, one of two strains of herpes virus. Arizona had just passed a law allowing citizens to have their blood tested without a doctor’s order. It would pave the way for big business with Walgreens throughout the state.

Holmes graced the covers of magazines like Fortune, Forbes, Inc.com, and the New York Times Style Magazine. She had an estimated net worth of about $4 billion. Her company was valued at about $9 billion.

The Company’s Downfall

Then John Carreyrou of the Wall Street Journal swooped in with an article entitled, “Hot Startup Theranos Has Struggled With Its Blood-Test Technology.” It dropped like a bomb on Silicon Valley. It was the first of a series of volleys that in less than three years would lead to the company’s total collapse. Oh, and leave Holmes indicted on criminal charges of conspiracy and wire fraud. If convicted, she could face decades in prison.

The story of Elizabeth Holmes’ spectacular rise and fall is told in gripping fashion in Carreyrou’s national bestselling book, Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup. I read it in a few days, scarcely able to put it down. Bad Blood is an absolute thriller. I kept asking myself, how can this be a true story?

At her peak Holmes gave TED talks and had the praise of some of the country’s most prestigious scientists, engineers, military business, and political leaders. But Empress Holmes had no clothes. Her company was built on an elaborate deception. While you can find the technical details elsewhere, let’s extract just one lesson: Trust but verify.

The Importance of Accountability

Phyllis Gardner, a professor of medicine at Stanford, was perhaps the first to tell Holmes that her idea might not work. Because when a finger is pricked, explained Gardner, the probe breaks up cells. Debris can escape from the sample, making it difficult to accurately perform most of the tests that Theranos would later claim they could “safely, quickly, and reliably” conduct.

In the early years of Holmes’ company engineers pleaded to start with larger volumes of blood and work their way down to needing less over time. Holmes refused.

At Holmes’ insistence, the company barred outside scientists from writing peer-reviewed papers on its technology. They couldn’t risk negative exposure.

What about her board? Yes, it was made up of powerful figures from Silicon Valley, but almost no one had the slightest bit of medical expertise. Worse, they were doting “yes men.”

Carreyou tells a stunning turn of events in the book where the board got wind of some of Theranos’ deceptive practices. They were going to remove Holmes from the board. But one by one, over the course of a single meeting, she wooed the board into letting her stay.

Toxic Atmosphere

Carreyrou’s book unpacks the toxic atmosphere within Theranos. You simply could not question Holmes or anyone in her inner circle. Rank and file engineers who respectfully raised concerns or suggested further testing were harshly silenced, if not fired.

Turnover at Theranos was consistently high, especially after Sunny Balwani joined as Holmes’s right hand man. He was also her live-in boyfriend, but that was kept secret from the board and employees.

Executives from Safeway and Walgreens were so eager for market share, they inked contracts with Theranos without ever bothering to check the technology. Even  when significant doubts arose they pressed on, fearing they might miss out on “next big thing.”

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup is a book you won’t regret picking up. Don’t have the time? Not to worry, there’s a major motion picture in the works starring Jennifer Lawrence as Holmes. 

Dr. Alex Chediak (Ph.D., U.C. Berkeley) is a professor and the author of Thriving at College (Tyndale House, 2011), a roadmap for how students can best navigate the challenges of their college years. His latest book is Beating the College Debt Trap. Learn more about him at www.alexchediak.com or follow him on Twitter (@chediak).