The Hard Thing About Hard Things

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 saw it: In the reply thread to @WillManidis’s question, “what is the single best book you can read that will explain an entire industry?” (June 2, 2025) — a crowd-sourced list Kyle recovered by hand and saved to his Apple Note “Books To Read”; the full set of replies lives on what is the single best book… (tweet). It was listed there as “The Hard Thing About Hard Things”.

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.