Most companies that go through layoffs are never the same. They don't recover because trust is broken. And if you're not honest… — Ben Horowitz Copy Share Image
Hire sales people who are really smart problem solvers, but lack courage, hunger and competitiveness, and your company will go out of… — Ben Horowitz Copy Share Image
As a company gets big, the information that informs decision-making gets massive. Depending upon the prism through which you view the business,… — Ben Horowitz Copy Share Image
Many of the people that you lay off will have closer relationships with the people who stay than you do, so treat… — Ben Horowitz Copy Share Image
If somebody's going on your board, and you're going to be C.E.O., it will help if that person knows how to be… — Ben Horowitz Copy Share Image
If the employees fundamentally trust the C.E.O., then communications will be vastly more efficient than if they don't. Telling things as they… — Ben Horowitz Copy Share Image
I described the CEO job as knowing what to do and getting the company to do what you want. Designing a proper… — Ben Horowitz Copy Share Image
A good engineering interview will include some set of difficult problems to solve. It might even require that the candidate write a… — Ben Horowitz Copy Share Image
The thing that's confusing for investors is that founders don't know how to be CEO. I didn't know how to do the… — Ben Horowitz Copy Share Image
There is no silver bullet. There are always options and the options have consequences. — Ben Horowitz Copy Share Image
Groupon looked like a very high valuation, but any investment in a great company at any stage is almost always a good investment. — Ben Horowitz Copy Share Image
By far the most difficult skill I learned as a C.E.O. was the ability to manage my own psychology. Organizational design, process design, metrics,… — Ben Horowitz Copy Share Image
“The hard thing is when those “great people” develop a sense of entitlement and start demanding unreasonable things. The hard thing isn’t setting up… — Ben Horowitz Copy Share Image
“As painful as it might be, I knew that we had to get into the broader market in order to understand it well enough… — Ben Horowitz Copy Share Image
“On my grandfather’s tombstone, you will find his favorite Marx quote: “Life is struggle.” I believe that within that quote lies the most important… — Ben Horowitz Copy Share Image
“Bill Campbell: "It's not about the money." Ben Horowitz: "What's it about, Bill?" Bill: "It's about the FUCKING money.” — Ben Horowitz Copy Share Image
When the value of the company clearly has fallen below what its assets are worth, having a shareholder who says, 'Let's get a better… — Ben Horowitz Copy Share Image
One person is never as stupid as a group of people. That's why they have lynch mobs, not lynch individuals. — Ben Horowitz Copy Share Image
“out the right product is the innovator’s job, not the customer’s job.” — Ben Horowitz Copy Share Image
As companies move to web-based computing they get a lot more servers, which are difficult to manage and control. All kinds of problems can… — Ben Horowitz Copy Share Image
Breakthrough ideas usually come from guys who look like they're hallucinating — Ben Horowitz Copy Share Image
