This is a book for CEOs of venture capital backed or public companies with 10+ employees. Unless this you are this CEO, this book will not be useful nor give you good advice; it will merely be interesting or a “what if” book.
It is probably even more narrow: CEOs of venture capital or public TECH companies IN THE SILICON VALLEY IN CALIFORNIA. The advice is very specific to Silicon Valley culture and a specific job in that culture. I’ve worked in Silicon Valley for 20+ years as an engineer and founded my own tech startup 2 years ago, yet this book still does not apply to me because I do not have the exact job described in this book.
That being said, the book made a lot sense, seemed to cover new ground (especially CEO psychology and emotions) and was a quick read. It’s a must-read for the 500 CEOs or so that it’s intended for. My one doubt is that “Is It Okay To Hire From Your Friend’s Company?” is probably illegal in California.
I got this book on the recommendation from Jumpcut Viral Academy and they should not have recommended it nor do I recommend that others read it. It’s simply not applicable nor useful to non-CEOs. But it’s easy to be star-struck by the author and inappropriately recommend this book as something that it is not. It’s an “already CEO” guide, not about self motivation, not about how to get promoted to CEO, not how to help your CEO, not how to be a VP, not how to network, not how to get funding, not how to start a business and on and on.
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Note to self: It's a good idea to ask, "What am I not doing?"
The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers
10,651 Kindle readers highlighted this
An early lesson I learned in my career was that whenever a large organization attempts to do anything, it always comes down to a single person who can delay the entire project.
The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers
9,763 Kindle readers highlighted this
Through the seemingly impossible Loudcloud series C and IPO processes, I learned one important lesson: Startup 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 your 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; your task is the same.
The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers
9,734 Kindle readers highlighted this
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Note to self: It's a good idea to ask, "What am I not doing?"The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers10,651 Kindle readers highlighted this
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An early lesson I learned in my career was that whenever a large organization attempts to do anything, it always comes down to a single person who can delay the entire project.The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers9,763 Kindle readers highlighted this
-
Through the seemingly impossible Loudcloud series C and IPO processes, I learned one important lesson: Startup 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 your 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; your task is the same.The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers9,734 Kindle readers highlighted this
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Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2018
Verified Purchase
Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2017
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Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2019
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Top reviews from other countries
Sam Gerrans
Unreadable
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 7, 2019Verified Purchase
Kilt_monster
It's alright, but there are better books, and potentially more relevant ones for you
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 14, 2018Verified Purchase
Alok Kejriwal
This book is Salvation
Reviewed in India on February 24, 2019Verified Purchase
This book is Salvation
Reviewed in India on February 24, 2019
The Hard Thing about Hard Things is pure SALVATION.Reviewed in India on February 24, 2019
Written by the well known Ben Horowitz (VC of FB, Airbnb, Pinterest, Twitter), this is Ben's narration as a HARDCORE entrepreneur.
What I LOVE about the book:
- There is no black or white in the world of startup entrepreneurship. It's always a shade of grey.
- The roller coaster ride of an entrepreneur & how SIMILAR it feels to all our journeys. This book is a GREAT leveller 🙂
- Profanity is a mindset. Ben narrates how he handles it (also mentioning its purpose)
- Co-Founder relationship management!
- The constant dread of shutting down / going bankrupt and how the single pointed agenda of SURVIVING pulled Ben and his Company through until stardom.
- When to use statistics and when to use calculus 🙂
- The incredible story of Go. (second time I read this)
- The CHALLENGES of 'getting big Co execs into small Cos"!
- NEVER 'overcompensating' employees
Immortal quotes:
"There were plenty of companies in the '90s that had launch parties but not landing parties" 🙂
"Play long enough ... so that you might get lucky"
MUST READ (once a year)
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Unknown
Peace to all those engaged in struggle to fulfill their dreams
Reviewed in India on November 4, 2018Verified Purchase
Ajay
A brief rundown on how to deal with the hard things
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 11, 2016Verified Purchase
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