The Hard Thing About Hard Things
Ben Horowitz
Summary
A Silicon Valley favourite from Ben Horowitz. He's the Horowitz in Andreesen Horowitz - one of the most successful venture firms in the US. Didn't love the book but would recommend it for CEOs and executives running companies
Rating: 3/5
Notes
The struggle is where greatness comes from
Even when you think there is no move, there is always a move
Tell everyone like it is, even if it sucks
Nobody cares, just run your company
Hire for world leading strengths rather than lack of weaknesses
Always train your people
The price for not giving feedback, systemically crappy company performance
The right ambition is ambition for the person’s own success as a result of the company’s success
Focus on the things you need to get right, not the things you did wrong
Focus on where you’re going rather than what you hope to avoid
Leadership, articulating a vision, right kind of ambition and ability to achieve the vision
A CEO must be able to tell a good story
Key to entrepreneurship: embrace the struggle
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Buy the book here
Free E-book download here
Make Something Wonderful
Steve Jobs
Summary
The life of Steve Jobs in his own words
Rating: 5/5
Notes
Make something wonderful and put it out there
‘You appear, have a chance to blaze in the sky, then you disappear’
When you’re a stranger in a place, you notice thing you don’t otherwise (Jobs after India trip)
Whenever you start with nothing, always shoot for the moon. You have nothing to lose.
You never achieve what you want without falling on your face a few times
Never be afraid to fail. You never achieve what you want without falling flat on your face a few times
We are never taught to listen to our intuitions, to develop and nurture them. But if you do pay attention to these subtle insights, you can make them come true
Creativity equals connecting previously unrelated experiences and insights others don’t see
Believe that some of what you follow with your heart will come back and make your life richer. And it will. And you will gain even firmer trust on your instincts and intuitions
Make your avocation your vocation. Make what you love your work.
The journey is the reward. The reward isn’t in the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it’s in crossing the rainbow
To find A+ talent, if experienced, look at their track record and results
The world we know is a human creation and we can push it forward
The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do (read whole ad ‘here’s to the crazy ones)
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit - Aristotle
Hire people better than you are
You can’t plan to meet the people who will change your life
It’s impossible to connect the dots looking forward, but they make sense looking backwards so you have to trust the dots will somehow connect in your future
Everything around you that you call life was made up by people no smarter than you
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Buy the book here
Free E-book download here