1: Then Intel CEO Andy Grove was sitting in a conference room with other members of the Intel team.
The topic? “Evaluations of a certain highly touted new software from a company whose other products we already use,” Andy writes in his legendary business book, Only the Paranoid Survive: How to Exploit the Crisis Points That Challenge Every Company.
Intel’s head of Information Technology shared the challenges her team … continue reading
1: “We had lost our bearings. We were wandering in the valley of death,” Andy Grove writes in his book Only the Paranoid Survive: How to Exploit the Crisis Points That Challenge Every Company.
The year was 1984, a pivotal moment for Intel.
The company had been founded 16 years earlier. “Every start-up has some kind of a core idea,” Andy notes.
“Ours was simple. Semiconductor technology had … continue reading
1: It was the summer of 1985.
One of Silicon Valley’s most legendary meetings was about to happen.
“I was in my office with Intel’s chairman and CEO, Gordon Moore, and we were discussing our quandary,” Andy Grove writes in his book Only the Paranoid Survive: How to Exploit the Crisis Points That Challenge Every Company.
“Our mood was downbeat,” Andy recalls.
“I looked out the window at … continue reading
1: “Our bread wasn’t good enough,” Ron Shaich writes in Know What Matters: Lessons from a Lifetime of Transformations.
This was a real issue for Ron because he was CEO of Panera Bread.
“Bread” was in the company name.
And, one of the company’s guiding principles was: “Bread is our passion, soul, and expertise.”
Ron knew he had to fix this problem. The stakes were high.
And it … continue reading
1: Yesterday, we looked at the wild story of Opsware’s acquisition of Tangram.
Which saved Opsware.
Because it allowed them to retain EDS as a client.
Which accounted for 90% of Opsware’s revenue.
“During acquisition talks,” Opsware CEO Ben Horowitz writes in his book The Hard Thing About Hard Things, “both sides had agreed that Tangram’s CFO, John Nelli, would not become part of Opsware.”
2: But, … continue reading
1: The two Opsware leaders sat in a sterile conference room at the EDS headquarters in Plano, Texas.
EDS was their largest customer.
“Largest customer really understates it,” Opsware CEO Ben Horowitz writes in his book The Hard Thing About Hard Things. “EDS accounted for 90 percent of our revenue.”
On the other side of the table sat Frank Johnson (not his real name)—“a big guy who grew up … continue reading
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: “Remember, Ben, things are always darkest before they go completely black,” said Netscape founder Marc Andreessen to his business partner and then Loudcloud CEO Ben Horowitz.
“He was joking, but as we entered our first quarter as a public company, those words seemed prescient,” Ben writes in his wonderful book The Hard Thing About Hard Things about being a Wartime CEO. The year was 2001. It was … 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
