The thing that stands out most to me about this book is how authentic and transparent author Ben Horowitz is with the readers. These are traits that I find extremely valuable in people and it has been refreshing to listen to.
Ben shares his life experiences about building businesses when there are no easy answers. When you are trailblazing an industry with innovation or disrupting it there are no easy answers. Having walked so many of these paths, Ben provides key insights and learnings that would help any innovating trailblazer. I also really appreciated his candor about being a CEO and leader during peacetime and wartime. Just the acknowledgement that there is a difference and some companies may live in one more than the other is so true but often goes unacknowledged.
Ben doesn’t shy away from sharing the good, the bad, the ugly, uglier, and uglier still.
Owning or leading a company is no walk in the park and I believe that books have done a disservice by not rolling up their sleeves and being authentically true to the reader and saying, it sucks, it’s lonely, it’s hard but here is how I did it.
I leave you with my favorite nugget as I have witnessed this so many times throughout my 20 year career:
“Sometimes an organization doesn’t need a solution; it just needs clarity.”
― Ben Horowitz, The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers