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The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When T
p/the-hard-thing-about-hard-things-building-a-business-when-tReal life of an entrepreneur, in details.
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Jonathan Li 李晓帆

The Hard Thing About Hard Things - Essential advice on building and running a startup

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Jonathan Li 李晓帆
Hunter
If you are a CEO, aspire to be a CEO, or really, manage anyone - you need to read this book. A classic and centrepiece on a startups bookshelf.
Erik Torenberg
@jonli what were some of the biggest takeaways?
Martin Skakala
@jonli @josuegio - This is my favourite book (top 5, I would say). There is so few books written actually about being it really hard, and not knowing what you are doing being the norm. Alongside the personal psychology of the founder(s). There is maybe one similar book by Andy Grove - Only Paranoid Survive (shortly said - your company is or will be under constant attack). Love the concept the the Wartime & Peacetime CEO time, which is so little written or talked about. Also what is so inspiring is how Ben or the company was vulnerable from personal stand point, and also how he talks about Marc Andreessen. This one should be on a school's curriculum! Highly recommend, as it would challenge the thoughts of what is really the norm for being both hard & a great founder at the same time.
Josue Gio
@mskakala totally agree! Wartime CEO is what every startup needs in their early days. The hard days of Ben are so inspiring.
Martin Skakala
@josuegio just an example. From the beginning of our short journey I was supporting the team bottom up (sort of peace time..). In last month I decided exactly on Ben's book to shift the gears and go for results. Also gave the books to my time, and surprisingly I did not have to explain or demand anything. The whole team shifted the gears for next months. Interesting exercise, so inspiring!
Emily Hodgins
During his LIVE Chat, @timoreilly described this book; "might just be the most compelling business book I've ever read." You can find Tim's full list of recent book recommendations here: https://www.producthunt.com/live...
Josue Gio
Holy moly! This is one of my top 10 books. Ben Horowitz is a real storyteller. I do not think that there is another name for this book, is all about that title. The idea of a Wartime CEO or a Peacetime CEO is super insightful.
Eliot Peper
The best business book I've read in a long time. Ben is a legendary operator. He founded, built, and sold Opsware. Then he partnered with Marc Andreessen to cofound one of the most successful venture capital firms in recent history, investing in Airbnb, Facebook, Twitter, GitHub, Pinterest, etc. The book is a practical, actionable, personal guide to the constant struggle of building a business.
Vincent Nguyen
I just bought the Kindle edition and read 5 chapters. Ben's story is inspirational and provides great lessons for entrepreneurs. Highly recommended to founders, CEOs. I shall continue tonight.
Leo Faria
Definitely one of the best books I ever read.
Vishal Agarwal
Reading this book felt like watching an intellectually action packed movie! Loved the direct language, the precise advise followed by real life examples. Also taught me I was a TWO! Need to work on becoming ONE & TWO!
Abdullah Sambo

Mainly, it teaches you to grow balls and take emotions out f decisions in order to benefit your firm, while also emphasizing the importance of family

Pros:

Great book abut well....making hard decisions while running an enterprise company. Key insights include: COMMUNICATION, HIRING, FIRING

Cons:

Not a con but may be a pro: It really focuses on the above mostly 3 things. rather than teach you how to start a business