Someone mentioned this book in a LinkedIn post and it seemed interesting. It’s based on the perspective of a CEO, in this case, Ben Horowitz, of a publicly traded tech company. It details many of the decisions Ben had to make while at the helm of both Loudcloud and the company it morphed into – Opsware.
One of the interesting things mentioned in this book is that Ben notes that a company’s stock price does not always match up with a company’s value. The actual state of a company can vary wildly from the value of its stock, particularly in less established companies.
He also makes a number of comments on hiring the right people. Ben likes hiring someone based on their strengths. If an individual has a particular strength that suits his needs, he is willing to overlook weaknesses in other areas that the position might ordinarily require. No one is perfect is a recurring theme throughout this book, even with regard to the CEO.
I was surprised how often this successful CEO admitted to being “in over his head”. Reading this book gives one the impression that most CEOs spend a great deal of time “in over their heads.” Running a public company means having to make decisions and then defend them to a board that always has less information than the CEO. Most of the discussions in this book sound like there will be many sleepless nights for any CEO with a conscience. Hiring and firing is very commonplace in a tech company. Company valuations can also swing wildly with small decisions. Everything that goes right will probably be seen as a result of a joint decision (executives and board) and everything that goes sideways will fall squarely on the shoulders of the CEO. This book was somewhat anxiety-inducing.
Being a CEO does not sound pleasant, but Ben, throughout the book, never mentions many of the perks that likely exist. He also never mentions what it is like to have a net worth in the billions of dollars. This book is written like Ben never considered his personal wealth while running companies. He just seemed focused on moving his company to the next milestone without ever enjoying the ride. Ben is now a venture capitalist. Perhaps he knew what was waiting for him if he was successful and just gritted it out until he got there. I am guessing his current stress level is far lower than it was in the past.
Ben partnered with Marc Andreessen, who worked with him at Opsware. The name of the firm is AH Capital Management, LLC. They started this firm using non-traditional methods for venture capital firms. One of the non-traditional methods used was extensive marketing. In the past, venture capital firms did not employ marketing. The reason given in this book is that venture capital firms often finance wars and it is not good for business when it becomes obvious that one firm may be backing both sides of a war. I will end on that note.