Ben Horowitz: Why Hesitation is a CEO’s Worst Enemy

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Science, Innovation, Business, Entrepreneurship, Culture, Disruption, Software Eating The World, Technology

4.4 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 12 September 2025

⏱️ 96 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this conversation from Lenny’s Podcast, Ben Horowitz joins Lenny to discuss the psychological muscle every founder needs, why hesitation can be fatal for CEOs, when it’s time to replace a founder, and how to normalize failure while building confidence. They also explore the Databricks founding story, investing in Adam Neumann after WeWork, whether AI is in a bubble, where the real opportunities lie, and Ben’s work with the Paid in Full Foundation supporting hip-hop pioneers. The result is a candid look at leadership, product management, and what it takes to build enduring companies.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Today, we've got a feed-drop from Lenny's podcast, a conversation with Ben Horowitz,
0:05.5	co-founder of A16Z, and Lenny Richitsky.
0:08.9	It's Ben on founder psychology, hesitation as the enemy, how to think about hiring, firing,
0:14.5	and managerial leverage, and why PMs are many CEOs.
0:18.5	Let's get into it.
0:21.9	The worst thing that you do as a leader is you hesitate on the next decision. The thing that
0:26.8	causes you to hesitate is both decisions are horrible. Probably one of my bigger ones on that
0:33.4	was we went public with $2 million in failing 12 months' revenue at 18 months old.
0:39.8	That's obviously a bad idea.
0:41.5	But the truth of it was the alternative was going bankrupt, and that's a worst idea.
0:45.9	It's very difficult and painful to be a CEO, to be a founder.
0:48.9	In spite of that, so many people want to start companies.
0:51.2	The psychological muscle you have to build to be a great leader is to be able to look in the abyss
0:56.9	and go, okay, that way is slightly better.
0:59.3	We're going to go that way.
1:00.4	If everybody agrees with the decision, then you didn't have any value because they would have
1:04.1	done that without you.
1:04.9	So the only value you ever add is when you make a decision that most people don't like.
1:09.5	You are famous for writing one of the most popular pieces of literature for product managers.
1:14.8	What I was trying to get out in good product manager, bad product manager, was the job is fundamentally a leadership job.
1:22.9	And it's a tricky leadership job because nobody is actually reporting to you.
1:28.3	There's always this kind of sense that the PM is not the mini CEO.
	...

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