The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers

“There are no shortcuts to knowledge, especially knowledge gained from personal experience. Following conventional wisdom and relying on shortcuts can be worse than knowing nothing at all.”

Horowitz relates a childhood experience about prejudice and the dangers of following traditional ways of thinking. This comment has a direct bearing on his future role as a CEO. Throughout the book, he repeatedly stresses the need to find out the facts for oneself and not rely on the status quo or the quickest means to solution.

“Marc [Andreessen]: ‘Do you know the best thing about startups?’ Horowitz: ‘What?’ Marc: ‘You only ever experience two emotions: euphoria and terror. And I find that lack of sleep enhances them both.’”

Marc makes this grim joke when he and Horowitz are on the verge of their first IPO. While Marc embraces the emotional rollercoaster of being a startup entrepreneur, Horowitz is less sold on the idea. By the end of the book, Horowitz is willing to embrace the struggle, but he will never revel in it in the way his partner does.

“I knew we were in deep, deep trouble. Nobody besides me could get us out of the trouble, and I was through listening to advice about what we should do from people who did not understand all the pieces.”

Horowitz frequently stresses the unique position of the CEO. Nobody else in the organization has access to the big picture in the manner a CEO does. Consequently, taking advice from someone lower in the chain of command is risky. Others can’t see the entire situation from the lonely vantage point of the person standing atop the mountain, and contrary to popular belief, the view from the top can be terrifying.