The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers―Straight Talk on the Challenges of Entrepreneurship

Very practical book. Ben has done it and that is why he is successful. Its like watching a reality business movie on actual events. I wish more authors to follow his writing. However they lack Ben’s experience

This book does not provide with answers to questions but a framework for facing hard questions. Enjoyed reading it, probably will read it again soon.

Really great. A lot of lessons learnt from Horowitz's experience as CEO. Very real and down hearth advices.

著者は自身の波乱万丈な起業経験を元に、引き抜きやレイオフなどなど、他の本にあんまり書かれないテーマの考察をまとめた一冊です。 特にベンチャー企業（特にIT/テック）にありがちな課題や対処するときの考え方などをCEO目線で語りました。 個人的にはCEOや役員は日々何を直面していて、彼らにどのような期待をすればよいのかについてとても参考になりました。 またベンチャー企業に特有な問題のパターンを知ることで、対処の参考材料にもなれると思います。 英語自体は難しくなく、わかりやすく書かれています。

成功者が書いた、もしくは成功者について分析した書籍が多い中、逆にwar time経験者の言葉(教訓)の方が納得しやすかった。

タイトル通り「名は体をあらわし」ベンチャーの厳しい現実を知る本です。経営本であるような天才級の経営者ではなく、地道に進めて七転八倒しながら上場へ、そしてシフトチェンジして今度はベンチャーキャピタル側へと変わりますが、そこのところの容量の良さは、なかなか一般人のまねできないところだと感じました。事実はもっと大変なはずです。

An exceptional book, written by someone rare to be brutally honest about the journey. Valuable inputs, and by far one of the easiest books I've read. I suppose the intent was simple and true, so the reading flowed smooth and clean.

If you want to know why The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers is worth buying, here’s the money quote. “Almost all management books focus on how to do things correctly, so you don’t screw up, these lessons provide insight into what you must do after you have screwed up.” If you’re planning to start a company, whether it’s a high-tech company or the kinds of companies that I started and ran, read this book. If you’re going to be someone in charge of anything in any kind of a company, read this book. If all you want are the big ideas, or Horowitz’ philosophy, you can get them from his blog and articles. You don’t need to buy this book. But if you want a handy advisor for that 3 AM moment when you’re thinking about firing someone you like, buy the book. Keep it handy. I’ve had those moments and I wish I’d had it. The Hard Thing About Hard Things has a whole lot of information packed inside it. You can read it from cover to cover and get a lot of value. Or, you can think of it as a series of conversations with bosses and mentors. Horowitz had a lot of those. And his mentors included people like Andy Grove and Jim Barksdale. The wisdom that he shares and credits to them, reminds me of the wisdom that I received from bosses and mentors and which I later shared with protégés. It’s real, it’s practical, and it will help. I think that the discussion of things like firing and laying people off are more than worth the price of the book by themselves. And they’re only a small part of what’s in The Hard Thing About Hard Things. Here are a few quotes from the book to give you an idea of what you’re in for. You don’t have to be a CEO to use what’s here, even though Horowitz aims the book at CEOs. Substitute “leader” for “CEO” in most quotes and use the wisdom. Quotes from The Hard Thing About Hard Things “That’s the hard thing about hard things— there is no formula for dealing with them.” “People always ask me, ‘What’s the secret to being a successful CEO?’ Sadly, there is no secret, but if there is one skill that stands out, it’s the ability to focus and make the best move when there are no good moves. It’s the moments where you feel most like hiding or dying that you can make the biggest difference as a CEO.” “Don’t take it personally. The predicament that you are in is probably all your fault. You hired the people. You made the decisions. But you knew the job was dangerous when you took it. Everybody makes mistakes. Every CEO makes thousands of mistakes. Evaluating yourself and giving yourself an F doesn’t help.” “One of the most important management lessons for a founder/ CEO is totally unintuitive. My single biggest personal improvement as CEO occurred on the day when I stopped being too positive.” “Management purely by numbers is sort of like painting by numbers— it’s strictly for amateurs.” “The first rule of organizational design is that all organizational designs are bad.” “Embrace the struggle.” There are plenty more in The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers.

Independientemente de ser el fundador y CEO de tu propia empresa, grande o pequeña, como emprendes desde hace poco o te planteas hacerlo, este libro es de lectura obligatoria. Ben empieza el libro contando su historia de manera muy amena y dejándo ver que todo lo que enseña y aconseja es fruto de haberse encontrado con los problemas, haberlos aprontado y haberlos superado, y sigue explicando, de manera metódica, cómo actuar ante los dilemas que suponen ciertas situaciones más o menos habituales pero que desde luego quien apunta alto se encontrará. Ben incluso cita a otros autores y libros que lo guiaron en su andadura y que deberían ser también lectura obligatoria para cualquier emprendedor, y que serán mis próximas lecturas tan pronto termine de releer este libro.

A worthwhile read for any aspiring entrepreneur, founder or executive in a start up. Interesting and candid history of Ben’s own companies, he gives valuable insights that will surely help you on your own journey. It’s also a short read for those who don’t have a lot of time to spare.

Livro rápido e excelente das reflexões de ex CEO de empresa de técnologia e um dos venture capitalist de mais relevância atualmente, liçoes excelentes da pratica de um CEO que começou como start-up, passou por scale-up, abriu capital e realizou a venda da empresa.