The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers
, subject: Ben Horowitz's experiences as an entrepreneur, CEO, and venture capitalist; LoudCloud, Opsware, and lessons for founders facing difficult company-building problems., 2014
An exchange between Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen frames running a startup as an emotional swing between euphoria and terror.
About the book
Before co-founding Andreessen Horowitz, Horowitz was co-founder and chief executive of Opsware, formerly Loudcloud, which Hewlett-Packard acquired for $1.6 billion in 2007. The book takes up problems without easy answers, such as demoting or firing a loyal friend.
Why read it
Best if you want Ben Horowitz’s account of the emotional extremes of running a startup, including his exchange with Marc Andreessen.
Key themes
- Euphoria and terror
- Horowitz and Andreessen
Evidence and original sources
Sources: official Founders episodes — #41, #50, #166, #219, #233
Host directs listeners to read the full book and links to it in the show notes.
- The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers — The episode is dedicated to Ben Horowitz's book; the host frames the entire show as his notes and highlights from it.
- Marc Andreessen's Blog Archive — David references his Founders No. 41 episode on Ben Horowitz's book and quotes a memorable exchange between Andreessen and Horowitz about the emotional experience of startups.
- Robert Noyce (Intel) — David cites Ben Horowitz's The Hard Thing About Hard Things as the likely source of a Marc Andreessen quote about the emotional experience of running a startup.
- Tony Bourdain: The Definitive Biography — David attributes the 'euphoria or terror' startup framing to a book he believes is The Hard Thing About Hard Things.
- Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Max Levchin (PayPal) — David compares Ken Howery's reaction to Peter Thiel with Ben Horowitz's reaction to Marc Andreessen as described in The Hard Thing About Hard Things.