The Hard Thing About Hard Things

Created
Jan 9, 2022 5:02 PM
Format
Book
Topic
ManagementEntrepreneurshipOrgTeamSelf
Author
Ben Horowitz
Can Josh recommend it?
Yes
Has Josh Read it?
No
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This is no polished victory lap. Ben analyzes issues with no easy answers through his trials, including:

  • Demoting (or firing) a loyal friend.
  • Whether or not 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.

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Praise for The Hard Thing About Hard Things

Ben's experience and expertise make him one of the most important leaders not just in Silicon Valley but in the global knowledge economy. For anyone interested in building, growing or leading a great company, this book is an incredibly valuable resource and a funny and insightful read.

cofounder and CEO of Facebook

Ben's advice has been invaluable to me over the past few years. He is forthright and direct, acknowledging, for example, that the job of leading can be impossibly lonely, while eloquently providing no-nonsense guidance for managing teams through good times and bad times. Stripping away the veneer of management-speak, Ben's writing carries the authority of somebody who has been through all of this. The results are simple, thorough, and compelling.

CEO of Twitter

Ben's advice has been invaluable to me over the past few years. He is forthright and direct, acknowledging, for example, that the job of leading can be impossibly lonely, while eloquently providing no-nonsense guidance for managing teams through good times and bad times. Stripping away the veneer of management-speak, Ben's writing carries the authority of somebody who has been through all of this. The results are simple, thorough, and compelling.

CEO of Twitter

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Past Events

Columbia University Book Talk & Signing

Tuesday, March 4 6:30 pm Rotunda, Low Memorial Library, Columbia University New York, NY

General Assembly Fireside Chat with Ben & Steve Stoute

Wednesday, March 5 7:00 pm General Assembly NYC (East) 902 BDWY, 4th Floor New York, NY

Box Dev Fireside Chat with Ben & Aaron Levie

Wednesday, March 26 11:15 am Fort Mason 2 Marina Blvd San Francisco, CA

The Phat Startup.com Fireside Chat with Ben

Tuesday, April 15 8:00 pm The Alley NYC 500 7th Avenue, 17th Floor New York, NY

NationBuilder Fireside Chat with Ben & Jim Gilliam

Friday, April 11 6:00 pm NationBuilder Office 448 S Hill Street, Suite 2000 Los Angeles, CA

About the Author

Ben Horowitz is a cofounder and general partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. He is the author of the New York Times bestsellers, The Hard Thing About Hard Things and What You Do Is Who You Are. He also created the a16z Cultural Leadership Fund to connect the greatest cultural leaders to the best new technology companies, and enable more young African Americans to enter the technology industry.

Prior to a16z, Ben was cofounder and CEO of Opsware (formerly Loudcloud), which was acquired by Hewlett-Packard for $1.6 billion in 2007, and was appointed vice president and general manager of Business Technology Optimization for Software at HP. Earlier, he was vice president and general manager of America Online’s E-commerce Platform division, where he oversaw...

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