The Hard Thing About Hard Things

Ben Horowitz examines the decisions leaders face when no easy answer exists, drawing on his experience building and running technology companies. The course explores crisis leadership, layoffs, executive management, organizational growth, and the psychological demands of making consequential decisions under uncertainty.

4 sections ยท 12 lessons

Course outline

Surviving Reality

  1. Face the Struggle
  2. Tell It Like It Is
  3. Fire Lead Bullets
  4. Surviving Reality

Human Consequences

  1. Lay People Off Right
  2. Preserve Respect in Firing
  3. Put People First
  4. Human Consequences

Scaling the Organization

  1. Hire for Needed Strength
  2. Pay Management Debt
  3. Make One-on-Ones Flow Up
  4. Program Culture Through Action
  5. Scaling the Organization

The CEO's Job

  1. Switch Between Peace and War
  2. Decide and Make It Happen
  3. The CEO's Job

Start learning with Wondering