In Horowitz's Silicon Valley Tell-All, a Woman's Place Is Strictly Hypothetical

When Ben Horowitz’s publicist reached out to see if I wanted to interview him about his new book, The Hard Thing About Hard Things, I enthusiastically said yes. Along with investing in such winners as Facebook and selling his own company for $1.6 billion, Horowitz’s hip-hop expertise has been acknowledged by Harvard. (At the South by Southwest festivals on Sunday, rapper Nas said Horowitz had changed his life.) Management advice aside, Horowitz could no doubt dish about working with tech stars, rap artists, and partner Marc Andreessen. (Bloomberg LP, which owns Bloomberg Businessweek, is an investor in Andreessen Horowitz.)

Horowitz does share some memorable anecdotes, mainly from his tumultuous experience running Opsware (formerly Loudcloud). By his calculation, he spent eight years battling brutal competitors, faltering customers, and negative press—broken up by only three days of peace. He reaped the reward, selling the business in 2007 for a hefty 16 times trailing earnings to Hewlett-Packard, which his partner says upped its own offer without knowing it was the only bidder at the table. Score. It’s a refreshingly candid look at all kinds of challenges, from bad timing to bad hires.