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The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers Hardcover – March 4, 2014

by Ben Horowitz (Author)

889 customer reviews

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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.

The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers

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Editorial Reviews

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*Starred Review* It’s fairly evident that this is a collection of blogs, loosely strung together, united in their varied perspectives on start-ups, CEO-dom, and business in general. Though Horowitz is a cofounder of Andreessen Horowitz and his credentials reside mainly in Silicon Valley, he’s imparted some valuable insight on hard lessons learned that apply to any manager, whether in the executive suite or not. As with most experiential books, it is all about him—but it’s written in such an engaging and universally acceptable manner that no one could object. Leave aside his background, for the moment. Who would realize, for instance, that executives worry about things like initiating layoffs, hiring the right people, training, and minimizing politics, among others? It’s a refreshingly honest take, and his colorful (and, yes, profanity-laced) language breaks down any other misperceptions about the role and the person. Plus, his imagination is compelling, such as the comparisons between peacetime and wartime CEOs: Peacetime CEO always has a contingency plan. Wartime CEO knows that sometimes you gotta roll a hard six. After all, the success equation is easy: the hard thing is getting it done. --Barbara Jacobs

Review

“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)

“The most valuable book on startup management hands down” (PandoDaily)

“There is more than enough substance in Mr. Horowitz’s impressive tome to turn it into a leadership classic.” (The Economist)

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Product details

Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: HarperBusiness (March 4, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0062273205
ISBN-13: 978-0062273208
Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 889 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,658 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #7 in Books > Business & Money > Small Business & Entrepreneurship > New Business Enterprises
- #40 in Books > Business & Money > Small Business & Entrepreneurship > Entrepreneurship
- #43 in Books > Business & Money > Management & Leadership > Management

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Top customer reviews

I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to start a business

ByRachuon September 11, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to start a business. Ben, the author, really knows how to describes the struggles of the entrepreneur's journey. He gives plenty of examples and illustrates his saying very well.
The book is a great inspiration to me and living in the Bay area it helped me better understand the place I live in.
The end of the book was a little fast too end, it seemed a tiny bit rushed but it's also due to the chapter being more straight forward and recent (he describes his beginning as a VC founder)

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

excellent book for all managers, particularly c-level executives.

Byranjanon September 21, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Engaging stories and content.
Well structured.
Full of real examples and decision making process surrounding tough decisions, followed by general concepts that can be adopted in specific scenarios. recommendations include what scenarios not to apply the decision making process or suggestions which is equally valuable.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

Great read with excellent advice.

ByAmazon Customeron April 7, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This book is a really interesting and quick read. It is really broken down into two sections. The first is an overview of Ben's history with Netscape, Loudcloud, and Opsware. There are lots of great anecdotes and tales of narrow escapes and hard decisions. If you worked in the industry at this time its a very interesting story. The second part is some advice for aspiring entrepreneurs and CEOs. While most of this advice seems to target VC backed tech startup CEOs and businesses, I found that I could still translate most of the sentiment to apply to a smaller boot strapped business as well.

All in all, I'd highly recommend this as an entertaining and insightful read.

0Comment 2 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Unvarnished manual for CEOs

Byyusufon July 14, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Ben tells it like it is. The authenticity shines through as he gives the low down about being a CEO -- the loneliness, the angst, the paradoxes and most of all the struggle. Laced with pithy anecdotes and advise that truly resonates with anyone who has been a CEO, this book represents the pragmatic musings of someone who has thought through and analysed major decisions points and after affects and made the effort to transcribe them. Where Theil quotes Shakespeare in Zero to One, Horowitz quotes rap stars. Where Theil is strategic and sublime, Horowitz is tactical and enumerative. But in both books, the adventure, the adrenaline, and the calling of the entrepreneurial struggle shines through.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

Hard things do not have to make hard people - they can make real people for others to rely upon.

ByCurt Rhodeson October 6, 2014

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Excellent, pithy, straightforward from gut to gut. A strong dose of reality re the ideas of entrepreneurship and leadership (which are separate, and sometimes not complementary, human drivers). It underscores the old saw, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained." There are no answers, only clarity of the struggle to stick to the path of "aloneness," and yet to have a network of "others" who believe in you, challenge you, push you, and cover your rear. Reflecting about the lessons I took/take from this exposure to hard reality is harder than I would have imagined - to go from reflection to action.

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

An intimate conversation with a gamechanging entrepreneur.

Bystonyhillon June 14, 2016

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

If you ever have a chance to have a deep, one-on-one conversation with a singular force like Ben Horowitz, drop everything to make it happen. But the remarkable thing about this remarkable book (see what I did there?) is that for each reader, Ben makes makes you feel like you're having a one-on-one conversation, with insights into the personal struggle required for greatness. Most of us won't ever have the chance to have that one-on-one conversation, much less a mentorship with someone like Ben. This book is the next best thing.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

Excellent management book for today's culture

ByJignesh Aminon November 30, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

After reading Good Manager / Bad Manager from Horowitz, I realized his teaching style fit right with my learning style. His empathy and humility shine through this book on how he struggled and applied his thinking to his specific scenarios. This was different than others as it was a not a biography or history of his companies, buy personal anecdotes and lessons learned applied to business managment. Great read and will be referencing periodically in my career.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

The best book i have read from someone who has been there done that

Bypbusharizion September 17, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Horowitz covers all the bases from starting up to scaling up; from strategy to execution; from recruiting to firing... it's all in there and more. He steers away from being prescriptive without being fluff. It's a great outline of his experience in taking his company from start up to eventual sale. Worth it's weight in gold.

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

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Most recent customer reviews

This book isn't just good for someone who is already a business owner or ...

This book isn't just good for someone who is already a business owner or CEO but also great for business students who just want to be there. They want the feeling.Read more

Published 2 days ago by Robert Smith

Being a CEO can be learnt

The best management book I read so far. Definitely will read it the second time.

Published 3 days ago by Tang Biao

Brilliant.

Leaves you hungry.

Published 6 days ago by Amazon Customer

Great book. Even though this book is most useful ...

Great book. Even though this book is most useful for active and past CEOs, it has a lot to offer to anyone who has ever been an employee.Read more

Published 11 days ago by RDX

Vows, i would write the eighty percent of the same book

This book becomes very popular because the content is extremely well resonated with the founders. It is so well done that there is no second book needed in this subject.

Published 12 days ago by battalgazi yildirim

A manual for the CEO/Founder of Start-ups

This is an amazing read on Entrepreneurship and startups. It reads like a manual, for CEOs/Founders. The lessons that the author share come from his personal experience.Read more

Published 13 days ago by Kislay

Real and honest take on entrepreneurship

Real lessons on entrepreneurship. Must read for those who would like to work on being a great CEO. Highly recommended.

Published 16 days ago by Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Great book about building and scaling a company. Required reading.

Published 17 days ago by Jason Channell

Must read

One of the best book I've read.

Published 17 days ago by Eray ÖGE

Five Stars

First step toward becoming an entrepreneur.

Published 19 days ago by behradtoghi

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