The easy thing about “The Hard Thing About
Hard Things,” Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Ben Horowitz’s book about “Building a
business when there are no easy answers,” is reading it.
Hard Things,” Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Ben Horowitz’s book about “Building a
business when there are no easy answers,” is reading it.
That’s because it’s funny, to-the-point, and
way more well-informed by real-world experience than most books that give advice ever are.
way more well-informed by real-world experience than most books that give advice ever are.
Like 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.”
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.”
And, “Managers must lay off their own
people. They cannot pass the task to HR
or to a more sadistic peer.”
people. They cannot pass the task to HR
or to a more sadistic peer.”
And, “The job of a big company executive is
very different from the job of a small company executive…big company executives
tend to be interrupt-driven. In
contrast, when you are a startup, nothing happens unless you make it happen.”
very different from the job of a small company executive…big company executives
tend to be interrupt-driven. In
contrast, when you are a startup, nothing happens unless you make it happen.”
But it’s not just catchy phrases and aphorisms that make the
book something pretty much anybody who wants to build a company should read,
it’s the experience that created them: Horowitz provides in brutal (and, for aspiring entrepreneurs, invaluable) detail the excruciating real-life experiences behind the advice, from his years as
a Silicon Valley engineer and then as the CEO of a start-up with more
near-death experiences than Keith Richards before its successful sale to HP.
Like how to fire people. What to say at the “all-hands” when you just had your first layoffs. What to tell an employee who asks if the company is being sold when it is being sold, but not yet. Why every company needs a “story,” and what makes a great company story (hint: see the letter Jeff Bezos wrote to Amazon shareholders in 1997.) When not to listen to your board. Even, literally, what questions a CEO should ask a prospect being considered for the key, all-important job in any start-up: head of sales.
We here at NotMakingThisUp are not generally fans
of “how-to” books, particularly those concerned with managing people, and we’ve
never coded anything more complex than a bicycle lock, but the light-bulb went
on reading the chapter emphatically titled “WHY YOU SHOULD TRAIN YOUR PEOPLE,”
in which the author bemoans the fact that “too often the investment in people
stops” with the recruitment process.
book something pretty much anybody who wants to build a company should read,
it’s the experience that created them: Horowitz provides in brutal (and, for aspiring entrepreneurs, invaluable) detail the excruciating real-life experiences behind the advice, from his years as
a Silicon Valley engineer and then as the CEO of a start-up with more
near-death experiences than Keith Richards before its successful sale to HP.
Like how to fire people. What to say at the “all-hands” when you just had your first layoffs. What to tell an employee who asks if the company is being sold when it is being sold, but not yet. Why every company needs a “story,” and what makes a great company story (hint: see the letter Jeff Bezos wrote to Amazon shareholders in 1997.) When not to listen to your board. Even, literally, what questions a CEO should ask a prospect being considered for the key, all-important job in any start-up: head of sales.
We here at NotMakingThisUp are not generally fans
of “how-to” books, particularly those concerned with managing people, and we’ve
never coded anything more complex than a bicycle lock, but the light-bulb went
on reading the chapter emphatically titled “WHY YOU SHOULD TRAIN YOUR PEOPLE,”
in which the author bemoans the fact that “too often the investment in people
stops” with the recruitment process.
The reason the lightbulb went is that the son
of a friend of ours happens to be a software engineer for a start-up that was
acquired by a large, fast-growing Silicon Valley company we won’t identify but
whose name rhymes with “Shalesforce.com.”
of a friend of ours happens to be a software engineer for a start-up that was
acquired by a large, fast-growing Silicon Valley company we won’t identify but
whose name rhymes with “Shalesforce.com.”
Anyway, this engineer is smart as hell, highly
motivated, eager to learn, and miserable at his job for precisely the reason Horowitz spells out as follows in “WHY YOU
SHOULD TRAIN YOUR PEOPLE”:
motivated, eager to learn, and miserable at his job for precisely the reason Horowitz spells out as follows in “WHY YOU
SHOULD TRAIN YOUR PEOPLE”:
“Often
founders start companies with visions of elegant, beautiful product
architectures that will solve so many of the nasty issues that they were forced
to deal with in their previous jobs.
Then, as their company becomes successful, they find that their
beautiful product architecture has turned into a Frankenstein. How does this happen? As success drives the need to hire new
engineers at a rapid rate, companies neglect to train the new engineers
properly. As the engineers are assigned
tasks, they figure out how to complete them as best they can. Often this means replicating existing
facilities in the architecture, which leads to inconsistencies in the user
experience, performance problems, and a general mess. And you thought training was expensive.”
founders start companies with visions of elegant, beautiful product
architectures that will solve so many of the nasty issues that they were forced
to deal with in their previous jobs.
Then, as their company becomes successful, they find that their
beautiful product architecture has turned into a Frankenstein. How does this happen? As success drives the need to hire new
engineers at a rapid rate, companies neglect to train the new engineers
properly. As the engineers are assigned
tasks, they figure out how to complete them as best they can. Often this means replicating existing
facilities in the architecture, which leads to inconsistencies in the user
experience, performance problems, and a general mess. And you thought training was expensive.”
That line is the exact truth. Just ask our friend’s son at Shalesforce.com. His managers—if they exist—ought to read
this book.
this book.
In fact, anybody who wants to start a company,
or work for a company, or build a company, or invest in a company, ought to
read this book, because that’s not the only hard-learned truth in here.
or work for a company, or build a company, or invest in a company, ought to
read this book, because that’s not the only hard-learned truth in here.
Some others include:
“In high-tech companies, fraud generally
starts in sales due to managers attempting to perfect the ultimate local
optimization [i.e. optimize their own incentive pay].”
starts in sales due to managers attempting to perfect the ultimate local
optimization [i.e. optimize their own incentive pay].”
“The Law of Crappy People states: For any
title level in a large organization, the talent on that level will eventually
converge to the crappiest person with the title.”
title level in a large organization, the talent on that level will eventually
converge to the crappiest person with the title.”
“The world is full of bankrupt companies with
world-class cultures. Culture does not
make a company…. Perks are good, but they are not culture.”
world-class cultures. Culture does not
make a company…. Perks are good, but they are not culture.”
“Nobody comes out of the womb knowing how to
manage a thousand people. Everybody
learns at some point.”
manage a thousand people. Everybody
learns at some point.”
“The first rule of the CEO psychological
meltdown is don’t talk about the psychological meltdown.”
meltdown is don’t talk about the psychological meltdown.”
And maybe the best of all, because it encapsulates
so much of what the book is about: “Tip to aspiring entrepreneurs: If you don’t
like choosing between horrible and cataclysmic, don’t become CEO.”
so much of what the book is about: “Tip to aspiring entrepreneurs: If you don’t
like choosing between horrible and cataclysmic, don’t become CEO.”
This book, on the other hand, is a choice between good
and great, so read it.
and great, so read it.
Jeff Matthews
Author “Secrets in Plain
Sight: Business and Investing Secrets of Warren Buffett”
Sight: Business and Investing Secrets of Warren Buffett”
(eBooks on Investing,
2013) $4.99 Kindle Version at
Amazon.com
2013) $4.99 Kindle Version at
Amazon.com
©
2014 NotMakingThisUp, LLC
2014 NotMakingThisUp, LLC
The
content contained in this blog represents only the opinions of Mr.
Matthews. Mr. Matthews also acts as an
advisor and clients advised by Mr. Matthews may hold either long or short
positions in securities of various companies discussed in the blog based upon
Mr. Matthews’ recommendations. This
commentary in no way constitutes investment advice, and should never be relied
on in making an investment decision, ever.
Also, this blog is not a solicitation of business by Mr. Matthews: all
inquiries will be ignored. And if you
think Mr. Matthews is kidding about that, he is not. The content herein is intended solely for the
entertainment of the reader, and the author.
content contained in this blog represents only the opinions of Mr.
Matthews. Mr. Matthews also acts as an
advisor and clients advised by Mr. Matthews may hold either long or short
positions in securities of various companies discussed in the blog based upon
Mr. Matthews’ recommendations. This
commentary in no way constitutes investment advice, and should never be relied
on in making an investment decision, ever.
Also, this blog is not a solicitation of business by Mr. Matthews: all
inquiries will be ignored. And if you
think Mr. Matthews is kidding about that, he is not. The content herein is intended solely for the
entertainment of the reader, and the author.
2 replies on “The Easy Thing About “The Hard Thing About Hard Things””
Team Lead: We need to increase our spend on employee training.
CEO: But what if after we spend money to train them, they leave?
Team Lead: What if we don't train them and they stay?
The best story in the book is the hiring of Mark Cranney as sales director. Everything superficial, screamed don't hire the guy. However, he was transcendantally better than anyone Horowitz had hired previously. There should be a chapter about sticking to your guns when hiring people, it can only inspire confidence and drive in the new hire.
Horowitz makes one comment that sales director are usually tall. For what reason? So that they can pull things off shelves? Look down on sales people?
But yeah, it's a great quick read and unlike anything I have read in a while, it's excruciatingly honest. Different from the many books written by executives promoting their many successes, but failing to mention the many more errors that had to happen in order to find the right answer, or omitting how painfully close they were to failure.