The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers

by Ben Horowitz

There are no shortcuts to knowledge, especially knowledge gained from personal experience. Following conventional wisdom and relying on shortcuts can be worse than knowing nothing at all.

leadership is the ability to get someone to follow you even if only out of curiosity.

I stopped thinking about myself and focused on what was best for my family. I started being the person that I wanted to be.

No matter who you are, you need two kinds of friends in your life. The first kind is one you can call when something good happens, and you need someone who will be excited for you. Not a fake excitement veiling envy, but a real excitement. You need someone who will actually be more excited for you than he would be if it had happened to him. The second kind of friend is somebody you can call when things go horribly wrong—when your life is on the line and you only have one phone call.

If you run a company, you will experience overwhelming psychological pressure to be overly positive. Stand up to the pressure, face your fear, and tell it like it is.

If your company is a good place to work, you too may live long enough to find your glory.