The Hard Thing about Hard Things

Have you ever imagined yourself as the CEO of a high-growth technology company in the middle of the internet bubble of the 2000s? No? Well, this is the scenario and adventure that Ben Horowitz tells in this masterpiece of digital entrepreneurship. The book tells Ben’s saga in charge of a startup called Opsware which was later sold to HP for $1.6 billion. Mandatory reading for first-time CEOs, high-growth startups, and investors who want to know what it's like to be on the other side of the negotiating table. The book addresses the challenges of going through difficult times without giving up and always focusing on developing the business despite adversity. Being a CEO is being able to bet when there are no options. There are dozens of management and leadership books written by CEOs and top executives. The problem with these books is that they explain what to do in a company when the direction is relatively clear, and the business is focused on becoming the market leader and continue to grow. But the day-to-day running of a founding CEO of a company is very different. It's complicated being a CEO, but if there is one critical skill that stands out in the best CEOs is the ability to do the right thing even when there are no good options. There are times when you will want to hide, and things will not be going well, but it is in those hours that you can make the biggest difference as a CEO. Ben Horowitz, at his company Opsware, had to deal with the internet bubble burst of 2000 and start over again his product line to prevent the company from bankrupting. The situation was so critical that Ben held a meeting at Opsware and asked employees who were thinking about resigning to do so at the time. This action forced the remaining professionals who believed in the company to focus on growth and allowed the others to leave. This effort to ensure that only those members of the team who truly believed in the business stayed, was the right choice and, in the long run, pushed the stock price from cents to $ 7 in record time.