Hello world! In my opinion, many IT-management-startup books actually say very similar things but just in a different way. There is one book however that stands out, making it my favorite book of this past year – “The Hard Thing About Hard Things” by Ben Horowitz. I found most of the chapters insightful, which is very impressive by my standard.

Here’s why I enjoyed the book:

1. It is the antithesis of “become successful in 1 week” books

Ben makes it clear that entrepreneurship is not a road filled with roses. The book attempts to recount tough struggles Ben faced as an entrepreneur and a CEO, to discuss them in a frank manner (30% of the book is actually about him freaking when shit hits the fan…), and to thoroughly evaluate the different course of options one could pursue.

2. It covers many shitty management challenges that other books shy away from

ie: hiring more experienced staffs, firing executives, managing politics in your company, the loneliness of CEOs, the diverse emotional perspectives of company events (such as being approached with an offer to buy), etc.

An example of this is:

“Do you demote or fire your executive who has worked very hard but just isn’t world class”? And worse, what if it was your friend? And how would you deal with the feelings of betrayal and embarrassment that the person may experience?

Ben has obviously thought a lot about this and offers his take on it:

1. Get ready at the thought that the person may leave the company.
2. Do not go into it with as an open discussion. Given the emotional intensity, being on a whim can ruin your relationship with the person. It also removes the possibility of the person lobbying for the old job, which could become very awkward and demoralizing.
3. “Admit that if you were a more experienced CEO, you might be able to develop him into the role, but two people who don’t know what they are doing is a recipe for failure.”
4. Acknowledge the contributions of the person and think through the alternative role (and/or increased pay) you want to offer, with the that person’s career development in mind.

If there is one startup management book that I would recommend, it is this one.