Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Mad Money

The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley's Pursuit of Power by Max Chafkin

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My journey through Silicon Valley continues as I learn more and more about its major events and players. And boy, do all of these guys really like Ayn Rand. Like many, I was disappointed at the downfall of Gawker. While I felt like the site (and its offshoots) could be too proud of itself and unaware that its establishment as an institution made their criticisms of institutions a little flat, I think it performed an important service to the media in terms of calling out bs. Being […]

What A Ride

Super Pumped: The Battle For Uber by Mike Isaac

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Like a lot of folks, I was thrilled in the early-2010s when Uber became a prevalent ride share business on the open market. No longer waiting for over priced taxis, no longer being taken advantage of when I didn’t have exact change, no longer wondering if my driver was running late or had forgotten where I was altogether. It wasn’t until near the end of the decade when I, like many, became disillusioned with Uber. It was awful to hear of their labor exploitation, the […]

The Firm

Bad Blood by John Carreyrou

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That Elizabeth Holmes was able to dupe such noted luminaries as Joe Biden, the Clintons, Rupert Murdoch, James Mattis, George Shultz, and Henry Kissinger should cure you and anyone else who suffers from imposter syndrome. Bad Blood is one of those books I’ve seen lauded in every corner of literatti space. For months, stacks of them were available at local stores. I probably wouldn’t have had interest in the story otherwise but since it’s been everywhere, I decided finally to pull it from my local library. […]

Idylls of the Queen

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou

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I think by now most of us have heard at least the outline of the story told in Bad Blood: Elizabeth Holmes, the youngest self-made female billionaire (and founder of Theranos) who somehow misled and deceived investors and board members into believing she had revolutionized blood testing and was able to test for literally hundreds of conditions using a single drop of blood. If it were true, it would have changed the world, but, of course, it wasn’t true. Holmes is set to go on […]

“It was as if Boeing built one plane and, without doing a single flight test, told airline passengers, ‘Hop aboard.’”

Bad Blood by John Carreyrou

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The following paragraphs are my meager attempt at Melrose Place fan fiction in order to demonstrate my feelings right now upon finishing this book. Please bear with me. Imagine it’s a Monday night in the late 1990s and you’re sitting on your couch watching TV, when Melrose Place comes on. Would you think it was crazy if something like this happened: Dr. Kimberly Shaw gets an idea to invent a medical device that could CHANGE THE WORLD. She tells everyone around her that her invention […]

Folies á Deux

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou

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Happy Women’s History Month! John Carryrou’s Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup taught me a new phrase – folies á deux – a shared psychosis by two people in close proximity. Elizabeth Holmes and her (secret) boyfriend,  Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, ran the company she founded like their own fiefdom. They enforced Elizabeth’s version of reality, kept information siloed, and silenced anyone who questioned or criticized them. I do not know if Elizabeth Holmes started out with good intentions and then was derailed by […]



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