The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers
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- Create Date：2021-03-25 14:16:36
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Ben Horowitz
- ISBN：0062273205
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Summary
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。
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。
Reviews
Daniel Astacio
，
This book has been on my To Read list for over a year。 I had high expectations for this book and assumed it was about building a business not just running a business。 I will not rate this book on what my "expectations" were and will instead provide a review based on the information that the book actually contained。 If you are looking for a book on starting a company from idea to product or service to sales etc。 You'll want to read （most likely） a book like The E-Myth by Michael Gerber。 The Hard This book has been on my To Read list for over a year。 I had high expectations for this book and assumed it was about building a business not just running a business。 I will not rate this book on what my "expectations" were and will instead provide a review based on the information that the book actually contained。 If you are looking for a book on starting a company from idea to product or service to sales etc。 You'll want to read （most likely） a book like The E-Myth by Michael Gerber。 The Hard Thing About Hard Things was very interesting in that it was a fun business book to read that included some of Ben's background information， how he met his wife， how he met Marc， his love for Hip Hop and eventually became a CEO。 Ben also discusses strategies and mindsets of CEO's and different approaches to hiring， managing， and leadership styles of successful CEO's。 Ben had to overcome challenges and face adversity at a couple of defining moments and these were ultimately the determining factor that lead to his success。 A sales manager gets paid to sell a marketing supervisor gets paid to over see the marketing， but CEO's are different in that they are largely compensated for making a few number of HIGH QUALITY DECISIONS。 This is something that I've also heard Jeff Bezos mention in interviews as well。 I would say that in this book Ben provides very interesting perspective on many business related topics and it is worth the read if you are curious。 。。。more
Thomas
，
Outlines the difficulties of being a CEO and the adversity you have to face。
Paul
，
Think I burned up a highlighter as I read this book。 At this point， it’s certainly my #1 read of 2021！ Thought the author consistently provided highly relevant leadership and business advice。 While I’m not in the tech sector， the lessons learned in this book still apply in numerous ways。 A long list of key excerpts are below。- The hard thing isn’t dreaming big。 The hard thing is waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat when the dream turns into a nightmare。 Pix。 PJK: this is somethin Think I burned up a highlighter as I read this book。 At this point， it’s certainly my #1 read of 2021！ Thought the author consistently provided highly relevant leadership and business advice。 While I’m not in the tech sector， the lessons learned in this book still apply in numerous ways。 A long list of key excerpts are below。- The hard thing isn’t dreaming big。 The hard thing is waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat when the dream turns into a nightmare。 Pix。 PJK: this is something leaders who care experience from time to time; when the going gets hard and the way ahead is not clear。- There’s no recipe for really complicated， dynamic situations… there’s no recipe for leading a group of people out of trouble。 Pix。- During this time I learned the most important rule of raising money privately: look for a market of one。 You only need one investor to say yes， so it’s best to ignore the other thirty who say “no”。 p20。- Marc Andreessen。 “You only ever experience two emotions: euphoria and terror。 And I find that lack of sleep enhances them both。” PJK: amazing quote！ So true！ I can use this quote to explain so many things that I’ve experienced。 P21。- Needs always trump wants in mergers and acquisitions。 P35。- We hosted both companies in our facilities， sometimes with them passing each other in the hallways as part of John’s well-orchestrated sales technique。 P35。- You need to stay home and make sure everybody knows where they stand。 You can’t wait a day。 In fact， you can’t wait a minute。 They need to know whether they are working for you， EDS， or looking for a f---ing job。”…。 If we hadn’t treated the people who were leaving fairly， the people who stayed would never have trusted me again。 P37。- “How can we walk away from requirements that we know to be true to pursue something that we think will help。” It turns out that this is exactly what product strategy is all about – figuring out the right product is the innovator’s job， not the customer’s job…。 The innovator can take into account everything that’s possible， but often must go against what she knows to be true…。 Sometimes only the founder has the courage to ignore the data。 P49/50。 - In my weekly staff meeting， I inserted an agenda item titled “What are we not doing？”。 P51。 PJK: in the military we often ask “who else needs to know。” This might be a better question to ask。- “What’s the secret to being a successful CEO？” Sadly there is no secret， but if there is one skill that stands out， it’s the ability to focus and make the best move when there are no good moves。 P59。- In any human interaction， the required amount of communication is inversely proportional to the level of trust。 P66。 PJK: excellent analysis！- Once you decide you will have to lay people off， the time elapsed between making that decision and executing that decision should be as short as possible。 - upon deciding to do a layoff…。They might say， “This gives us a great opportunity to deal with some performance issues and simplify the business。” That may be true， but do not let that cloud your thinking or your message to the company… Company performance failed。 P70。- Managers must lay off their own people。 P70。- Reasons for a failed hire… You hired for the generic position。 There is no such thing as a great CEO， a great head of marketing， etc。 There is only a great head of sales for your company for the next 12 to 24 months。 P75。 - “There is no silver bullet that’s going to fix that。 No， we are going to have to use a lot of lead bullets。” P90。 PJK: another amazing quote。 Sometimes the only way out of a tough situation is to work extremely hard for a long time。 It there was an easy， quick solution… it wouldn’t be a hard problem。- Hiring… Despite many people being involved in the process， the ultimate decision should be made solo。 P129。- The head of HR must be deeply networked in the industry and stay abreast of all the latest developments。 P142。- “Do I value internal or external knowledge more for this position？” will help you determine whether to go for experience or youth。 P172。- The primary thing that any technology startup must do is build a product that’s at least 10 times better at doing something than the current prevailing way of doing that thing。 Two or three times better will not be good enough to get people to switch…。 The second thing that any technology startup must do is to take the market。 If it’s possible to do something 10 times better， it’s also possible that you won’t be the only company to figure that out。 P179。- Whenever I meet a successful CEO， I ask them how they did it… They all say， “I didn’t quit。” P208。- … when it comes to CEO succession， internal candidates dramatically outperform external candidates。 The core reason is knowledge。 Knowledge of technology， prior decisions， culture， personnel， and more tends to be far more difficult to acquire than the skills required to manage a larger organization。 P214。- Peacetime in business means those times when a company has a large advantage over the competition in its core market， and its market is growing… In wartime， a company is fending off an imminent existential threat。 P225。 - Be aware that management books tend to be written by management consultants who study successful companies during their times of peace。 As a result， the resulting books describe the methods of peacetime CEOs。 P228。- While there is no reward without risk， there is certainly risk with little or no chance of corresponding reward。 P250。 。。。more
Watunyu
，
Inspirational books I’m very fond of this book that taught the real hard things in the Start up。 Everything I got from this book is absolutely valuable。 I give you 10 starts without doubt。 Thanks for writing the great book， Ben Horowitz
Peter Håkansson
，
Good insight into how difficult decisions are for CEOs， really doesn't beat around the bush when it comes to hard truths， Good insight into how difficult decisions are for CEOs， really doesn't beat around the bush when it comes to hard truths， 。。。more
Yu Gao Fei
，
Very good book for entrepreneurs。 I read it a few years ago and reread it this year。 But this time， there was a whole lot more insights， probably due to the fact that my entrepreneurial experience has matured as well。 The book deals with a myraid of issues， the main learning points are: 1） Managing your psychology and pressure in startup:—> What is the worst case scenario？—> What can be controlled？ and what cannot be controlled？—> Asking for root cause—> Solve the root cause on what can you cont Very good book for entrepreneurs。 I read it a few years ago and reread it this year。 But this time， there was a whole lot more insights， probably due to the fact that my entrepreneurial experience has matured as well。 The book deals with a myraid of issues， the main learning points are: 1） Managing your psychology and pressure in startup:—> What is the worst case scenario？—> What can be controlled？ and what cannot be controlled？—> Asking for root cause—> Solve the root cause on what can you control2） Diffusion of responsibility:—> Job scope need clear demarcation—> avoid diffusion of responsibility in similar roles3） Not everything can be measured in terms of numbers—> Don't solely be dictated by numbers—> Purely based on numbers can result in bad result for other non-tangible factors like values， culture etc4） Being Authentic5） Training is important6） Caring about the customers7） Frugality is important8） Hire Slow9） Fire Fast and be Transparent10） How to define that person is good？—-> Collective Rating—-> Probation period—-> Look for team period quality—-> Give a case study， a problem to solve （how are they going to approach it）11） Careful what you say with regards to promotion12） Hire based on strength13） Clear guidelines for compensations， reviews， and promotions14） Contributions need to be acknowledged。 validated15） Culture and people are key to retaining talents 。。。more
Eni
，
Great book！
Justin
，
I feel this book has many valuable insights。 I feel like I may have read it a little bit too early as I have no need for the the things I've learned。 Maybe in the future I can use this。 But after finishing the book， I'm having second thoughts if I even want to lead a company。 I'll be content working on the sides， this life Ben led is not for me。 Even if I never have a need for these lessons， I at least learned that the CEO life is not as appealing as it looks。 I feel this book has many valuable insights。 I feel like I may have read it a little bit too early as I have no need for the the things I've learned。 Maybe in the future I can use this。 But after finishing the book， I'm having second thoughts if I even want to lead a company。 I'll be content working on the sides， this life Ben led is not for me。 Even if I never have a need for these lessons， I at least learned that the CEO life is not as appealing as it looks。 。。。more
Sanket Sheth
，
Have you heard about the Clubhouse App that is creating a buzz around the world？ - Ben Horowitz is the guy behind it。 Ben Horowitz is one of those silicon valley entrepreneurs that has acquired a reputation as a firefighter， goliath in the David and Goliath story。 His first notable fight started when he was with Netscape trying to fight the onslaught of Internet Explorer （IE） and the hegemony of Microsoft。 It is a very interesting tale to know how IE got the better of Netscape。 Had Netscape been Have you heard about the Clubhouse App that is creating a buzz around the world？ - Ben Horowitz is the guy behind it。 Ben Horowitz is one of those silicon valley entrepreneurs that has acquired a reputation as a firefighter， goliath in the David and Goliath story。 His first notable fight started when he was with Netscape trying to fight the onslaught of Internet Explorer （IE） and the hegemony of Microsoft。 It is a very interesting tale to know how IE got the better of Netscape。 Had Netscape been there， IE would have been a much better product and would be still living。 Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer should consider the move to shunt out Netscape through their monopolistic moves as their biggest blunder。 Competing with Netscape， IE could have improved on features and speed。 That would have never allowed Chrome and Firefox to acquire the browser space。 That's what Google did right。 It kept funding Firefox with a condition to keep Google search as the default search option instead of stifling it。 Whoever wins in the fight of Firefox vs。 Chrome， Google is always the clear winner。Ben then goes on to describes his journey as the founder of Loud cloud， how he saved the company from the brink of bankruptcy and delisting on Nasdaq。 Finally， he sold off his company to HP at 1。6 Billion Dollars。 Ben describes how his close friends and advisors have helped him to take the right decision at the right time。 Most of the silicon valley books I am reading these days have placed special emphasis on coaches and advisors - the reason being these entrepreneurs are shooting in the dark with a target in mind。 They are just not betting on the future， they are predicting it while creating it。 Ben describes various corporate philosophies which sometimes across as too esoteric - no different than the Organizational behavior Book I had read in my first year of MBA。 If one takes out all the 'Gyaan' part， the real-life incidents are interesting to read。 They are an inspiration。 If one is trying to create a product company， this book is good to read。 。。。more
Harry Stitt
，
Really bad
Maha
，
لأن الطريقة الوحيدة ليتعلم المرء أن يصبح مديراً تنفيذياً هي أن يصبح مديراً تنفيذياً 。 يقول المؤلف هذا في آخر الكتابالكتاب يقدم خبرة للقراء في الإدارة التنفيذية و ريادة الأعمال ، كما لو أن الكاتب يخبرك قصته و تجاربه ، الجميل أن حماس و تشجيعات التنمية البشرية المبالغ بها مفقودة هنا ، بسلاسة و سهولة يطرح الأفكار والخواطر لكن ليست هناك تسلسل أو ماذا نتحدث هناك إنسيابية لكن ليس هناك نسق ، بطريقة أو بأخرى ستستفيد من الكتاب 。
Josiah Gray
，
I remember reading this and thinking it was kind of boring。
Rubaiyat
，
3。5*
Kwuang
，
lots of substance， very little fluff， mostly talks about how to be a CEO of a startup
Pepijn van Dijk
，
Hailed as one of the start-up bibles， this classic on how to build a business does indeed hold great lessons。 Horowitz manages to avoid most of the worn-off cliches on the need for excellent leadership and relentless focus， and instead shows the more brutal side of building out an idea。 This is due to his own experience as entrepreneur。 He has lived the life himself: from failure to multi-million dollar success。He talks about there being no rules， that having character really makes the differenc Hailed as one of the start-up bibles， this classic on how to build a business does indeed hold great lessons。 Horowitz manages to avoid most of the worn-off cliches on the need for excellent leadership and relentless focus， and instead shows the more brutal side of building out an idea。 This is due to his own experience as entrepreneur。 He has lived the life himself: from failure to multi-million dollar success。He talks about there being no rules， that having character really makes the difference， and that a leader has to lead even when he doesn’t know where’s going。 The chapter on how to stay great is one of the best。And next to being streetwise， Ben Horowitz is a funny guy。 At least in writing。 。。。more
Patrick
，
Business common sense masquerading as tech bro wisdom。 Some good anecdotes but not particularly inspiring with the emphasis on weathering stock price changes and cutting deals as opposed to actually building anything。
Jacob
，
There are some helpful frameworks here， and I appreciate a number of specific anecdotes Ben Horowitz provides， such as issues with revenue recognition that auditors found， complicating the sale of Opsware （which Ben cofounded） to Hewlett-Packard。 However， I find that a lot of this book is more geared to giving specific advice current founders / CEOs of up-and-coming tech companies。 This was a good read， but I was a bit surprised about how much of the book had to do with advice relating to the pa There are some helpful frameworks here， and I appreciate a number of specific anecdotes Ben Horowitz provides， such as issues with revenue recognition that auditors found， complicating the sale of Opsware （which Ben cofounded） to Hewlett-Packard。 However， I find that a lot of this book is more geared to giving specific advice current founders / CEOs of up-and-coming tech companies。 This was a good read， but I was a bit surprised about how much of the book had to do with advice relating to the particularities of management （e。g。 specific questions to ask as a CEO when debating whether to higher an executive from outside the company or promoting someone internally）。I imagine I'll come back to this in the future， and it's helpful to understand Ben's perspective， but this had much less info about a general business and entrepreneurship mindset than I had expected going in。 Also would have appreciated more detail about Andreeson Horowitz's portfolio companies and Ben's perspectives about VC。 。。。more
Harri Tallinn
，
This is a bible for a startup founder。 So if you want to build one， then its a must read！
Phil
，
While this is an instant classic and has a lot of good stuff in it， but if you are going to convert your blog posts into a book， spend a little time modifying them to make it cohesive。 Ben starts the book with a good narrative then you get hit with 30 random blog posts。
Jesse Favelle
，
Interesting read; all about the insights of a startup CEO。 I found lots of the information non-relevant but interesting like how to select ceos and how to hire/fire executives。
Julian Chua
，
I think it is an interesting read， especially for founders or leaders who need to make difficult decisions in their businesses or organisations。 Mostly anecdotal recounts。 It feels authentic and relatable。
Jiliac
，
This book is very specific to "CEO， and their investors， of rising start-ups"。 Which makes sense knowing the background of the author （head of a VC firm）。 It's all about how you can be a good CEO， or how best to coach a CEO of this kind of company。 There are some interesting point that you can take out for "general leadership"。 And it's also interesting to know the challenge these people face to better understand their decision process。 The book is well written， dense in information while being This book is very specific to "CEO， and their investors， of rising start-ups"。 Which makes sense knowing the background of the author （head of a VC firm）。 It's all about how you can be a good CEO， or how best to coach a CEO of this kind of company。 There are some interesting point that you can take out for "general leadership"。 And it's also interesting to know the challenge these people face to better understand their decision process。 The book is well written， dense in information while being easy to read。 However， I would not recommend it if you are not in this situation yourself。 。。。more
Aurimas Martisauskas
，
Finally I have read the real book about management in hard times when the decisiona are not easy to make。 It reflects me with good advises and hands-on approach。 One of the best management books I have read ever and strongly recommend for those managing the companies and making tough decisions。
Mahmoud Rateb
，
What's all the hype about？ A really meatless book; too many stories with many pats on the back and too little actual info or advice。 What's all the hype about？ A really meatless book; too many stories with many pats on the back and too little actual info or advice。 。。。more
Conrad
，
This is the first self help/business book that I've read and even though the start was a bit slow， later i understood that it's in the genre。 to be completely fair this book has set a high expectation from the genre in my opinion， and no matter what books I read after it doesn't even reach the bar this book has set。 Ps: Read this after a traumatic breakup and it really helped me to get things into perspective， about life。 This is the first self help/business book that I've read and even though the start was a bit slow， later i understood that it's in the genre。 to be completely fair this book has set a high expectation from the genre in my opinion， and no matter what books I read after it doesn't even reach the bar this book has set。 Ps: Read this after a traumatic breakup and it really helped me to get things into perspective， about life。 。。。more
Glenn Yu
，
If Zero to One imagines that startups are about ideas， then this book imagines that startups are about people。 Ostensibly this is a book about "management" — but， really， it's a book about the organization and treatment of *people*。 The book has definitely made me think of my company at a more meta-level。 It made me think a lot about my weaknesses as a person （a long list）， and what types of executives I need to hire to compensate。 As Ben Horowitz says， it's important not to hire for lack of wea If Zero to One imagines that startups are about ideas， then this book imagines that startups are about people。 Ostensibly this is a book about "management" — but， really， it's a book about the organization and treatment of *people*。 The book has definitely made me think of my company at a more meta-level。 It made me think a lot about my weaknesses as a person （a long list）， and what types of executives I need to hire to compensate。 As Ben Horowitz says， it's important not to hire for lack of weaknesses， but strengths。 It would be easy for me to hire people who have similar competencies as me。 It's much harder to hire people with different ones — but those are the people who are most valuable to me。 There are so many gems in this book。 Periodically， I consult this book when making difficult decisions。 （On the two occasions where I've consulted the book， I've still made the wrong decision， but it's not the book's fault）。 Honestly， I don't really think I fully internalized how hard my job was until I read this book。 But like a cold shower， this book jolted me into taking my work much more seriously。 。。。more
Rakesh Guleria
，
Must Read！！
Sef
，
Not sure how I feel about the book - Horowitz definitely proved himself to be a successful entrepreneur / businessman and some of the points he made in the book definitely makes sense。 But there's a sense of arrogance and his repeated mentioning of his success in exiting with $1。6B valuation seems unnecessary。 The need to spend a chapter to try to convince readers that profanity in a workspace is kosher also seems unnecessary。 Perhaps this is a trait common in the entrepreneurial / VC space？ Not Not sure how I feel about the book - Horowitz definitely proved himself to be a successful entrepreneur / businessman and some of the points he made in the book definitely makes sense。 But there's a sense of arrogance and his repeated mentioning of his success in exiting with $1。6B valuation seems unnecessary。 The need to spend a chapter to try to convince readers that profanity in a workspace is kosher also seems unnecessary。 Perhaps this is a trait common in the entrepreneurial / VC space？ Not sure。 Also， what's with all the references to African-American culture / lyrics， etc。 at the start of each chapter？ 。。。more
kanchan
，
Should be required reading for anyone in a leadership position。 （Also lots of useful info for anyone reporting to someone in a leadership position）。 Only annoyances were the rapper quotations。
Allen Pike
，