The Hard Thing About Hard Things
Ben Horowitz
S Tier
When to Read
When you're going through a rough time at your startup
Main Takeaway
There's no recipe for hard decisions, but knowing others survived the same darkness helps you push through.
Style
Theoretical
Practical
Don't read this if you haven't started a startup. It might convince you NOT to do it. If you're going through a rough time at your startup, read it immediately. It talks about all the bad things that happened to Ben Horowitz (yes, a16z Horowitz) and how he still came through. It covers wartime vs peacetime leadership, the differences between the two, and different kinds of leaders. One of the most honest books about what running a company actually looks like.