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

What I learned from reading The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz.

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There's no recipe for complicated, dynamic situations [0:01]

Meeting Marc Andreessen [8:30]

The co-founder relationship between Marc and Ben [11:00]

How they came up with the idea for Loudcloud (Opsware) / A business is just an idea that will make someone's life better. —Richard Branson [13:45]

Ben finds value by asking the question: What would I do if we went bankrupt? [21:05]

Sell the wrong product to find the right one [22:30]

Saving a $20 million a year customer by buying a $10 million company [23:16]

Do not play the odds [27:27]

Discount praise. Focus on what can be fixed [28:32]

Why training is so important (compounding effect) [31:20]

Difference between large company executives and founders [32:00]

Why it is a good idea to collect good ideas [34:00]

Determination is more important than intelligence [35:30]

Your culture should be unique / Using shock to create behavioral change [38:24]

There is no founder school [40:30]

Perseverance is more important than intelligence [41:01]

Copy from great founders [46:50]

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