1: “What are we not doing?”
That was the question Opsware CEO Ben Horowitz added to the agenda of his weekly staff meeting.
After several near-death experiences during the dot-com bust of the early 2000s, the company began to show signs of life.
“Now that we’d improved our competitive position, we went on the offensive,” Ben writes in his wonderful book The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business … 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: Getting better at getting better is what RiseWithDrew is all about.
Monday through Thursday, we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and exemplary organizations. On Fridays or over the weekend, I try to share some wisdom or something I’m thinking about or working on.
May 4th will mark seven years of writing RiseWithDrew every weekday. Haven’t missed a day except for holidays.
For the last several years, I’ve done … 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
1: “Why does everybody hate Ben so much?”
That was the question asked by Loudcloud CEO 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
