The Hard Thing About Hard Things

Book Playlist

The Hard Thing About Hard Things Playlist

by Ben Horowitz

20 tracks

balanced

Oct 9, 2026

A focused instrumental arc for Horowitz’s account of building and nearly losing a Silicon Valley company: restrained repetition suggests the discipline of operating through uncertainty, while gradual crescendos evoke layoffs, difficult decisions, and the pressure on leaders and teams. The sound moves between intimate piano and spacious post-rock, ending with a hard-won sense of endurance rather than easy triumph.

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Track List

20 songs

1

Kids Will Be Skeletons

Mogwai · Happy Songs for Happy People

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2

Take Me Somewhere Nice

Mogwai · Rock Action

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3

Truth

Balmorhea · All Is Wild, All Is Silent

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4

The Winter

Balmorhea · Rivers Arms

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5

Hymn for the Greatest Generation

Caspian · Hymn for the Greatest Generation

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6

Gone in Bloom and Bough

Caspian · Waking Season

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7

The Mighty Rio Grande

This Will Destroy You · S/T

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8

Threads

This Will Destroy You · S/T

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9

I Can Almost See You

Hammock · Raising Your Voice... Trying to Stop an Echo (Deluxe Edition)

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10

Turn Away and Return

Hammock · Everything and Nothing

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11

Montana

Tycho · Awake

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12

Hours

Tycho · Dive

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13

Anthem

Emancipator · Soon It Will Be Cold Enough

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14

Minor Cause

Emancipator · Dusk to Dawn

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15

Burnt

Kiasmos · Kiasmos

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16

Bent

Kiasmos · Kiasmos

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17

Indoor Swimming At The Space Station

Matthew Robert Cooper · Copia

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18

Prelude For Time Feelers

Matthew Robert Cooper · Copia

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19

Requiem for the Static King, Pt. 2

A Winged Victory for the Sullen · A Winged Victory for the Sullen

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20

Minuet for a Cheap Piano Number Two

A Winged Victory for the Sullen · A Winged Victory for the Sullen

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