Kyle Harrison
to-read

The Hard Thing About Hard Things

The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers
Author
Ben Horowitz
Published
2014
Recommended
3 times
Buy on Amazon ↗

Why it’s on the list: Horowitz on the parts of running a company nobody writes down — layoffs, demoting a loyal executive, wartime versus peacetime CEOs — drawn from Loudcloud and Opsware.

Where I heard about it

  • Replies to @WillManidis — named in the answers to his question “what is the single best book you can read that will explain an entire industry?” (the thread, June 2025). The full list of replies is on what is the single best book… (tweet).

  • On Nate Poulin’s DTC/Business reading list, posted September 2020 and saved by Kyle as I’m building a DTCBusiness reading… (tweet).

  • @patrick_oshag’s thread — named in the replies to his question “Anyone read anything thought provoking lately ?”, October 2026 (@scottfelsenthal: “I re-read… for the 4th time. Gets better each time!”). Full set of replies: Anyone read anything thought provoking… (tweet).

Connections

  • Ben Horowitz — Author.
  • Company Building — The portfolio idea this sits under.
  • Venture Capital — The industry Horowitz went on to work in.
  • Management — The book’s subject.
  • what is the single best book… (tweet) — the thread this recommendation came from.

Referenced in