The Hard Thing About Hard Things – Book Summary
Ben Horowitz is the cofounder of Andreessen Horowitz (A16Z) and one of Silicon Valley’s most respected and experienced entrepreneurs. In his book ‘The Hard Thing about Hard Things’ he narrates his experiences being a CEO and the hard decisions he has had to make. The book offers essential advice on managing the toughest problems as a leader, problems which business schools do not cover.
Ben begins the book by stating that every time he reads a self-help or management book it does not address the truly hard things, like laying people off or having good people demand unreasonable things. While most management books focus on how to do things correctly so that you don’t screw up, Ben’s book offers
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He understood that figuring out the right product is the innovator’s job, not the customer’s and after the first line of code is written, decisions are no longer objective in the technology business. .
Chapter 4: When Things Fall Apart
When the odds of LoudCloud’s survival were low, Ben’s friend and LoudCloud board member, Bill Campbell advised him to prepare for bankruptcy, but he never made such a contingency plan. He believed that CEOs should not play the odds. When you are building a company, you must believe there is an answer, and you cannot pay attention to the odds of finding it. You just have to find it. It matters not whether your chances are nine in ten or one in a thousand; the task is the same.
There is no secret to being a successful CEO he states; however, the ability to focus and make the best move when there seems to be no good moves is crucial. When things get unbearably difficult, and the struggle begins, there are a few things you can try.
First, do not put it all on only your shoulders. You should share every burden that you can with the maximum number of