1: Things were looking bleak. Very bleak.
The year was 2001, and the dot-com crash was happening.
One by one, technology startups that only a year earlier boasted sky-high valuations and lavish offices were collapsing, leaving behind empty cubicles, burned-out servers, and a sobering lesson in the perils of unchecked optimism.
Loudcloud CEO Ben Horowitz decided to sell the company’s cloud business and pivot to software.
“The situation was complex, … continue reading
1: “The peacetime CEO does not resemble the wartime CEO,” Ben Horowitz writes in The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers.
One example? “A basic principle in most management books is that you should never embarrass an employee in a public setting,” Ben notes.
“On the other hand, in a room filled with people, [Intel CEO] Andy Grove once said to … continue reading
1: It was the middle of the dot-com implosion in 2001. Loudcloud CEO Ben Horowitz sat in his office, arms folded.
Across from him sat two colleagues, both of whom had graduated from Stanford Business School.
They presented forty-five slides about why Ben’s decision to start a software division was “quixotic, misguided, and downright stupid,” he writes in his book The Hard Thing About Hard Things.
“They argued that … continue reading
1: “Should Yahoo bring back Koogle?”
Felicia Horowitz smiled at her husband, venture capitalist Ben Horowitz.
“Huh?”
It was 2012, and Yahoo had just fired its CEO, Scott Thompson.
“Tim Koogle? How do you even know who Tim Koogle is?” he writes in his book The Hard Thing About Hard Things.
Felicia then recalled a conversation they had shared eleven years earlier, back in 2001.… continue reading
1: “Why does everybody hate Ben so much?”
That was the question asked by Loudcloud CEOÂ Ben Horowitz‘s mother-in-law.
Ben called an all-company meeting, which his wife Felicia typically attended.
“This time her parents were in town, so they came, too,” Ben writes in The Hard Thing About Hard Things.
It was the year 2000, and Ben was in a difficult spot.
A year earlier, his start-up, Loudcloud, … continue reading
1: Netscape founder Marc Andreessen to his business partner and then Loudcloud CEO Ben Horowitz:
Marc: “Do you know the best thing about startups?”
Ben: “What?”
Marc: “You only experience two emotions: Euphoria and terror. And I find that lack of sleep enhances both.”
The year was 2000. The dot-com implosion was happening.
Ben and Marc had raised almost $200 million to launch Loudcloud, a startup focused on network … continue reading
1: “Ben, think about how you might run the business if capital were free.”
That was the advice Andy Rachleff of Benchmark Capital gave Ben Horowitz, who was the CEO of Loudcloud, a startup focused on network security, scaling, and disaster recovery.
The year was 1999.
Ben and Loudcloud co-founder  Marc Andreessen were coming off the spectacular sale of  Netscape to AOL for $4.2 billion.
Benchmark invested $15 million … continue reading
1: The summer of 1995 was a dizzying time for the people working at Netscape.
In August of that year, the company went public.
“The Netscape initial public offering (IPO) was both spectacular and historic,” Ben Horowitz writes in The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers.
“The stock initially priced at $14 per share, but a last-minute decision doubled the … continue reading
1: “The hard thing isn’t setting a big, hairy, audacious goal,” Ben Horowitz writes in The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers.
“The hard thing is laying people off when you miss the big goal,” Ben notes.
Not the hard thing: Hiring great people.
The hard thing: “When those ‘great people’ develop a sense of entitlement and start demanding unreasonable things,” … continue reading
1: The thing about Laura?
“She never complains.” Will Guidara writes in his terrific book, Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect.
Will was about to assume the General Manager role at Eleven Madison Park (also known as EMP). This New York City fine-dining restaurant was part of legendary restaurateur Danny Meyer‘s Union Square Hospitality Group.Â
One “should never waste an opportunity … continue reading
