Business
by Ben Horowitz
What do you do when it goes wrong?
Most management books explain how to build something great. Ben Horowitz wanted to write about the part they skip, like laying people off when you miss the big goal. He learnt it running Loudcloud and Opsware through the dot-com crash.
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Horowitz's name for the lowest point of running a company is the Struggle. You wonder why you started, and nobody can make the decision for you. His advice is to share the burdens you can, and to remember that great companies come out of it.
A peacetime CEO runs a company with a safe lead and works to widen it. A wartime CEO is fighting an immediate threat to the company's survival, and may need to break protocol to win. Horowitz says the hard part is knowing which the moment needs.
When a rival's product was beating Opsware, his team looked for a clever way round it. Horowitz told them there was no silver bullet, only lots of lead bullets. They had to build a better product, piece by piece, and they did.
If cuts have to come, Horowitz says don't delay, be clear why, and train the managers. Each manager tells their own people, face to face. Then the CEO should stand in front of the whole company and be visible all day.
No recipe
There's no formula for the hardest problems in a company. You have to work them out yourself.
Loudcloud
When Loudcloud nearly died, he sold its core business to EDS to save the company.
The Struggle
Every founder hits the Struggle, when nothing works and quitting looks tempting. Getting through it is the job.
Bad news
Tell your team the bad news. A company that hides its problems can't fix them.
Layoffs
If you must lay people off, move fast and have their own managers tell them face to face.
A story from the book
Loudcloud went public in 2001, just as the dot-com market collapsed and its customers started going bust. Horowitz sold the main business to EDS and rebuilt what was left as Opsware, a software company. In 2007 HP bought Opsware for $1.6 billion.
One thing to try
In your next one-on-one, let the other person decide what you talk about. Horowitz treats it as their meeting. Ask what the team's biggest problem is and why, then mostly listen.
Knotd has the key ideas from 250+ non-fiction books, each in a few minutes, in plain words. The Hard Thing About Hard Things comes with a Your Move story to make it stick.
Get the whole book on KnotdOpen in the appWhat do you do when it goes wrong? Most management books explain how to build something great. Ben Horowitz wanted to write about the part they skip, like laying people off when you miss the big goal. He learnt it running Loudcloud and Opsware through the dot-com crash.
The Struggle; Wartime and peacetime; No silver bullet; Lay people off properly.
In your next one-on-one, let the other person decide what you talk about. Horowitz treats it as their meeting. Ask what the team's biggest problem is and why, then mostly listen.
Yes. Knotd has the key ideas from The Hard Thing About Hard Things in a few minutes, in plain words, plus a Your Move story to test them. It's one of 250+ non-fiction books in the app.
