Out for Blood chronicles the rise and fall of Theranos, interspersed with footage of Holmes and her COO Sunny Balwani making grandiose proclamations about Theranos and the value it was providing. It also includes visual flashbacks to the era of Thomas Edison, the titular Inventor who famously failed repeatedly before finally succeeding; Theranos's miniature blood testing labs were called "Edisons". Notably, Gibney chronicles how Holmes and Balwani were seemingly more interested in marketing, promotion, naming, and managing the media than in the actual mechanics of their technology working, in negative feedback from medical experts, or in investigating and responding to the allegations in John Carreyrou's article detailing practices at the company. Gibney also shows how Holmes and Balwani seemed to believe that any criticism must be a plot from their blood-testing competitors Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp to the point of hiring personal bodyguards and leading chants against Quest at employee morale events. Footage is also shown of the parade of wealthy and powerful figures Theranos lured onto their side, whether as investors, consultants, or members of the Board of Directors, such as David Boies, George P. Shultz, Henry Kissinger, Sam Nunn, Bill Frist, and James Mattis.