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The Hard Thing About Hard Things

Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers

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The Hard Thing About Hard Things

Written by: Ben Horowitz
Narrated by: Kevin Kenerly
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About this listen

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.

©2014 Ben Horowitz (P)2014 HarperCollins Publishers
Decision-Making & Problem Solving Entrepreneurship Leadership Management New Business Enterprises Building Business

What listeners say about The Hard Thing About Hard Things

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    3 out of 5 stars

a one time listen

this is kind of a story about the business life of author and a summary of few other management books.

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4 people found this helpful

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A must read for every startup in growth phase.

This is one of the holy Trinity for start-ups after Thiel's Zero to One and Eric Ries' The Lean Startup, this book should be read when a startup has achieved product market fit and is ready to launch into its growth phase. Amazing book!!!

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"Life is a Struggle - Embrace it".

Inspiration is a funny thing – To each his own. I have never seen a management guru/ CEO use lyrics from Rappers as little nuggets of inspiration.

The Hard Things isn’t dreaming big - The Hard work is waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, when the dream turns into a nightmare.

Mr Horowitz does acknowledge at the onset that there is no set recipe or set formula to deal with the hard things (be it in business, life or everyday decisions) and that he would rather share his story and experience as an entrepreneur, CEO and a Venture Capitalist. This is approach is what makes it more relatable. When you reach the very many management books and read the highly researched routine or the profound theories therein, you just feel soo helplessly out of place. This however is like a relaxed TV series or a documentary on the Hard Things, you are welcome to take a dip, visualize, relate, correlate and figure out your own solutions out of your hard thing.
The author himself tells us how he drew inspiration from a couple of Hollywood movies for tough management decisions. Keep an open mind – If you keep yourself at it, You might find inspiration from the most unlikeliest of places.

Kevin Kenerly (The narrator): There is a conversational style to the writing and Mr Kenerly has done well to find the sweet spot between a Conversational tone and a Lecture. He draws us closer to and makes us a part of whats happening when required and quickly zooms us out and presents us with the vantage point when called for.

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Great Read

Loved reading the book, it's definitely not a one time read, a book that you can go through based on the scenarios as and when one encounters

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Must read for aspiring entrepreneurs

Book is very real. Unlike other self help books, it focuses on the not so brighter sides of entrepreneurship as well. You can actually learn stuff which you can start implementing directly. Awesome book overall.

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amazing inside view in the life of a ceo .

This book seems to me like a guide to things to avoid presented by a successful ceo and founder himself, nothing could be more valuable than know what mistakes not to make .

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

facing hard things is inevitable!

loved the bite sized techniques it offers that are so influential. go for it! loved the fact that Ben's parents are communist 😂😂! making decisions when the investors wants your resignation is hard and what's more harder is making good desicions during hard times! how a company deals with it's hard times will determine the fate of the company!

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A defining book when you are on top of the company!

What a wonderful take on a CEOs / founder / entrepreneur’s entire life cycle and all aspects of a company.
Loved every bit of it.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

hidden perspectives that matter to entrepreneurs

it's these hidden perspectives that matter to entrepreneurs who are starting their long journey.
loved it

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A must read for professionals

A book with lot of practical discussions and recommendations. Wonderful narration by author himself makes it so much more impactful.

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