Book Review: The Hard Thing About Hard Things

I recently read The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz. I was interested to read it because Ben is a well-known and experienced entrepreneur, based in the Silicon Valley area south of San Francisco. He offers advice on how to really run startups.

I loved the way that Horowitz addressed failure. Instead of taking the business school approach of telling you how things should be done, and assuming that you’ll do everything correctly, he spends time telling you what to do after you’ve already screwed up.

I thought the advice that he delivers is quite realistic, and more importantly, helpful. It was interesting to see him asking you to embrace the struggle.

Many CEOs that I talk to feel like they’re the only ones who must be struggling, and they often feel quite alone. Horowitz makes it very clear how much everyone in these roles struggles, and then provides ideas on what to do when you’re in lousy situations.

Overall, I found this refreshing, and honest.