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Ben Horowitz: Business Week Called His IPO 'The IPO From Hell'

By Ben Horowitz · Investing · 2 min read

The press said he was setting cash on fire. His employees' spouses read it. That's The Struggle.

Key Points

The real pain isn't press criticism -- it's how it affects your team's families
You must believe in calculus, not statistics -- there IS a right answer
There's not much comfort out there -- you just have to find the answer

If you're a startup CEO, you have to believe in calculus. You have to believe you can find the answer.

The IPO From Hell

Horowitz: "When I was going public, Business Week wrote a cover story called 'The IPO From Hell.' The Red Herring wrote that I was taking my cash and setting it on fire in my parking lot. So these things hurt my feelings."

Horowitz: "Most of the stress doesn't come from what people in the press think. It's how the people in the company start to feel about it. You've brought all these people in, they believed in you, things aren't going as sold, and it's going badly. And then it's amplified if they read that you suck in the press."

You've brought all these people in, they believed in you, things aren't going as sold, and it's going badly. And then it's amplified if they read that you suck in the press.

Your CEO Is an Idiot

Horowitz: "I didn't care that they said I was an idiot. What bothered me was people who work for me would go home and their spouse would go, 'You know, your CEO is an idiot. I just read it here in Business Week.' That is hard."

Horowitz: "I never as an entrepreneur had a great outlet for that. Probably one of my best ones is I'm friends with Bill Campbell, who had as bad experiences when he was running a company called Go. He would understand. But it didn't help that much. It's still a struggle, it's still difficult."

I didn't care that they said I was an idiot. What bothered me was people who work for me would go home and their spouse would go, 'Your CEO is an idiot. I just read it here in Business Week.'

Calculus, Not Statistics

Horowitz: "Peter Thiel has a great thing in his startup class. He says there's people who believe in statistics -- there's probabilities of things happening, all you can do is run a process and it is what it is. And then there's people who believe in calculus -- they believe there's a right answer."

Horowitz: "If you're a startup CEO, you have to believe in calculus. You have to believe you can find the answer. That's all you can focus on. There's an answer out there somewhere. And trust me, there's always an answer. Hopefully, God willing, you have enough time to get to the answer."

Horowitz: "I talk to entrepreneurs all the time. I tell them how bad it was for me. It sucked. And they're like, 'That was then. This is now. This is my company. I don't care about you.' So there's not that much comfort out there."

If you're a startup CEO, you have to believe in calculus. You have to believe you can find the answer. There's an answer out there somewhere. Trust me, there's always an answer.