Ben Horowitz on Hard Work Quotes

"The struggle is not failure, but it causes failure. Especially if you are weak."

"The only thing that prepares you to run a company is running a company."

"Intelligence is not enough. You need the courage to act on your intelligence."

"You can’t worry about the things you can’t control."

"Focus on where you want to go, not on what you fear."

"The hard thing isn't hiring great people. The hard thing is when those 'great people' develop a sense of entitlement."

"Greatest CEOs have a high tolerance for pain."

"If you are going to eat shit, don't nibble."

"You must believe there is always a move."

"Build a culture that rewards the right behaviors, not just the right results."

"The most important thing for a leader is to be able to tell the truth."

"The hard thing isn't setting a big, hairy, audacious goal. The hard thing is laying people off when you miss the goal."

"Spend zero time on what you could have done and all of your time on what you might do."

"In business, you have to be right when everyone else is wrong."

"Being a CEO is about managing your own psychology."

"Take care of the people, the products, and the profits—in that order."

"Hiring is the most important thing you do, but firing is the hardest."

"There are no silver bullets, only lead bullets."

"The hard thing isn't dreaming big. The hard thing is waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat when the dream turns into a nightmare."

"The most difficult skill I learned as CEO was the ability to manage my own psychology."

"There is no such thing as a perfect CEO."

"Culture is not a set of values; it is the collective behavior of the organization."

"The struggle is where greatness comes from."

"If you don't treat the people who leave right, the people who stay will never trust you again."

"Wartime CEOs do not have time for consensus."

"Often, any decision is better than no decision."

"The Struggle is when you wonder why you started the company in the first place."

"Hard things are hard because there are no easy answers or recipes."

"A company is only as good as its culture, and culture is what you do when no one is looking."

"Execution is everything."

"If you don't have the stomach for the hard things, you shouldn't be in the game."

"The first rule of entrepreneurial leverage is: if you can’t do it, you can’t delegate it."

"Every time I read a management or self-help book, I find myself saying, 'That’s fine, but that wasn’t the hard thing about the situation.'"