The Struggle
by Ben Horowitz · read the original
Horowitz names the darkest part of being a founder: the stretch where nothing works and you doubt everything, including yourself. Every great CEO went through it. There's no formula out, but there are moves that help.
- 1
What The Struggle Is
The Struggle is the gap between the dream you started with and the wreckage in front of you: doubt, isolation, and physical dread, all at once.
- 2
Not Failure, But It Causes Failure
The Struggle doesn't kill companies directly. The panicked, foggy decisions made inside it do. Your job is to keep judgment intact while everything hurts.
- 3
Every Great CEO Went Through It
Feeling like a fraud in over your head isn't evidence you're failing. It's the shared experience of every great CEO. The Struggle is where greatness comes from.
- 4
Don't Put It All on Your Shoulders
Hiding the worst problems wastes your best minds and crushes you alone. Put the real problem in front of the team; they can handle more truth than you fear.
- 5
It's Chess, and the Clock Is Your Friend
There is always a move, and surviving buys time for the board to change. Don't resign a chess game because it looks like lost checkers.
- 6
Don't Take It Personally
Own your mistakes without letting them define you. Too much weight and you freeze; too little and you repeat them. Learn, then move.
- 7
Focus on the Road, Not the Wall
Attention steers the company. Stare at the ways you might die and you'll drive into them. Keep your focus on the road: the next move, not the wall.
- 8
There Is No Answer, and That's the Point
There's no trick that ends The Struggle. The techniques help you survive it, and surviving it is what forges great CEOs. Keep going.