Episode · a16z Podcast · 2025-10-15
Books mentioned on Ben Horowitz and Ali Ghodsi: How to Run a Billion-Dollar Business
Ben Horowitz founded Loudcloud in the middle of the dot-com bust and sold it for $1.6 billion, then led Andreessen Horowitz from its founding to $46 billion in committed capital.
Ali Ghodsi recommended Amp It Up by Frank Slootman and The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz, and discussed Radical Candor by Kim Malone Scott.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Radical Candor
Radical Candor by Kim Malone Scott is a management guide that teaches leaders how to care personally while challenging directly, offering practical frameworks for giving effective workplace feedback.
Discussed“So like you know I think that's a you know there's this book called radical cander and I think people take it too far and they misunderstand it and so on.”
Where to get it
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Amp It Up
Amp It Up by Frank Slootman is a business leadership book that outlines strategies for scaling companies, enforcing accountability, and driving high-performance execution cultures within organizations.
Recommended“you know, one of my competitors, Frank Slutman, wrote a book called Amp It Up.”
Where to get it
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The Hard Thing About Hard Things
The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz is a candid entrepreneurship and management guide that addresses the brutal realities of running a business, making difficult decisions, and leading through crisis.
Recommended“I mean especially you know this the story you had in heart about heart things which is probably the best business book I've read which I read by the way before starting data bricks and influenced us a lot”
Where to get it
