The Hard Thing About Hard Things

Ben Horowitz built and sold Opsware for $1.6 billion, then co-founded Andreessen Horowitz, one of the most influential venture funds in history. This book covers the period in between: the near-death experiences, the impossible decisions, the loneliness of the CEO role, and the specific operational challenges that no business school covers. Horowitz's thesis is that there is no formula for the hardest decisions in business. There are only principles, judgement, and the willingness to act when there is no good option.

For founders raising capital, executives navigating difficult boards, and investors trying to assess management quality, this book is essential reading. Horowitz is particularly good on the difference between peacetime and wartime CEOs, on how to manage senior people who are failing, and on the dynamics between founders and the investors who back them. These are the conversations that happen behind closed doors in every deal Goodrich has been involved in.

Horowitz writes with unusual candour for someone in his position. He does not smooth over the failures or present a retrospectively logical narrative. The chapters on laying people off and on managing your own psychology during a company crisis are among the most honest things written about business leadership.