The Hard Thing about Hard Things - by Ben Horowitz (Hardcover)

About the Book

Appendix includes questions designed for the head of an enterprise sales force.

Book Synopsis

Ben Horowitz, cofounder of Andreessen Horowitz and one of Silicon Valley's most respected and experienced entrepreneurs, offers essential advice on building and running a startup--practical wisdom for managing the toughest problems business school doesn't cover, based on his popular ben's blog.

While many people talk about how great it is to start a business, very few are honest about how difficult it is to run one. Ben Horowitz analyzes the problems that confront leaders every day, sharing the insights he's gained developing, managing, selling, buying, investing in, and supervising technology companies. A lifelong rap fanatic, he amplifies business lessons with lyrics from his favorite songs, telling it straight about everything from firing friends to poaching competitors, cultivating and sustaining a CEO mentality to knowing the right time to cash in.

Filled with his trademark humor and straight talk, The Hard Thing About Hard Things is invaluable for veteran entrepreneurs as well as those aspiring to their own new ventures, drawing from Horowitz's personal and often humbling experiences.

From the Back Cover

A lot of people talk about how great it is to start a business, but only Ben Horowitz is brutally honest about how hard it is to run one.

In The Hard Thing About Hard Things, Ben Horowitz, cofounder of Andreessen Horowitz and one of Silicon Valley's most respected and experienced entrepreneurs, draws on his own story of founding, running, selling, buying, managing, and investing in technology companies to offer essential advice and practical wisdom for navigating the toughest problems business schools don't cover. His blog has garnered a devoted following of millions of readers who have come to rely on him to help them run their businesses. A lifelong rap fan, Horowitz amplifies business lessons with lyrics from his favorite songs and tells it straight about everything from firing friends to poaching competitors, from cultivating and sustaining a CEO mentality to knowing the right time to cash in.

His advice is grounded in anecdotes from his own hard-earned rise--from cofounding the early cloud service provider Loudcloud to building the phenomenally successful Andreessen Horowitz venture capital firm, both with fellow tech superstar Marc Andreessen (inventor of Mosaic, the Internet's first popular Web browser). This is no polished victory lap; he analyzes issues with no easy answers through his trials, including

• demoting (or firing) a loyal friend;
• whether you should incorporate titles and promotions, and how to handle them;
• if it's OK to hire people from your friend's company;
• how to manage your own psychology, while the whole company is relying on you;
• what to do when smart people are bad employees;
• why Andreessen Horowitz prefers founder CEOs, and how to become one;
• whether you should sell your company, and how to do it.

Filled with Horowitz's trademark humor and straight talk, and drawing from his personal and often humbling experiences, The Hard Thing About Hard Things is invaluable for veteran entrepreneurs as well as those aspiring to their own new ventures.

Review Quotes

"With a candid, even profanity-laced style that quotes everyone from Silicon Valley legend Bill Campbell to hip hop star Nas, Horowitz writes about what it takes to manage people and lead organizations today...even the most seasoned managers will appreciate Horowitz's discussion of the emotional toll of high-power jobs and what he calls the CEO psychological meltdown" - The Washington Post
"This isn't your traditional, how-to founder advice. He tackles the real problems and challenges entrepreneurs face...But where Horowitz separates himself is in his advice around how to control your own psychology and demons as a CEO and founder. These are real problems that every CEO and leader faces, as sometimes they are their own worst enemy... My bet is that Horowitz's book becomes gospel for startups. His stories already have." - TechCrunch
"The most valuable book on startup management hands down" - PandoDaily
"Horowitz tends to dispense management advice in a kind of one-two punch. First comes the self-deprecating quip about mismanagement and misery, delivered with a knowing grin and capped with a two-beat chuckle. But soon the smile will vanish, and he'll turn dead serious. His brow will furrow slightly, his eyes will widen and focus with an intensity that borders on scary, and he'll speak slowly, deliberately. It's almost as if you can't afford not to listen." - Fortune
"There is more than enough substance in Mr. Horowitz's impressive tome to turn it into a leadership classic." - The Economist
"More than any other business book released this year, "Hard Things" gives an insider's perspective on what it's like to lead and scale a startup." - --Business Insider's Best Business Books of 2014
"This is easily one of the essential books every business leader should read if they're looking for proven and honest management advice." - --Entrepreneur's 25 Amazing Business Books from 2014