Ben Horowitz on the 1 reason founders fail as CEO The a16z co-founder is asked for the #1 reason founders fail in the CEO role, to which he replies: “I would say the big thing is a lack of decision — hesitation . . . You can be really smart, but if you wait too long before you pull the trigger, you’re not smart anymore. There’s all kinds of excuses people tell themselves to not make a decision.” Ben gives firing an executive as an example of a situation where founders often wait too long to…