“Elizabeth’s iron determination and great intellectual ability turned me from a mild skeptic to an enthusiast. We aren’t exactly a group of people who give away our time lightly.” That was Henry Kissinger explaining how Elizabeth Holmes managed to attract a who’s who to the board of her once wildly high-flying startup, Theranos — a company that had a ground-breaking blood analysis technology that led to a $9 billion valuation, even though it didn’t actually work. How did a company that was built on a technology as mock as the Steve Jobsian-black turtlenecks worn by its CEO end up winning over some of the most powerful people in tech, healthcare, and politics? To find out, you can wait for the movie starring Jennifer Lawrence (seriously), or you can start with this brief look behind Theranos’ rise and dramatic fall.

+ In There Will Be Blood, the Daniel Day-Lewis character famously explained, “I drink your milkshake.” This tale of blood was about people drinking the Kool-Aid. NYT: Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos CEO and Silicon Valley Star, Accused of Fraud.

+ While you might think that the penalties for wanton fraud would cut deep, so far, the SEC’s punishments amount to little more than a pin prick.

+ Buzzfeed: What it’s like to work at Theranos after the fall, according to Glassdoor reviews.