Mar 4, 2021
As co-founder and founding CEO of Netflix, Marc Randolph laid
much of the groundwork for the streaming service that’s grown to
150 million subscribers, and fundamentally altered how the world
experiences media.
With over 40 years of entrepreneurial experience, Marc has built
six other successful companies, mentored hundreds of early stage
entrepreneurs, and invested in dozens of successful tech
ventures.
Today, Marc reveals seldom-shared anecdotes about Netflix
including how the iconic brand got its name and their David versus
Goliath story with Blockbuster. Yet it's Marc's unconventional
definition of success (hint: it's not money or fame!) and
how creating positive workplace culture starts with the leaders
that's most intriguing.
This episode will inspire you to take action to make your next
big idea or lofty dream a reality and remind you that while it
may not be easy, it's always possible.
SHOW NOTES:
- “It’s what I did, not who I am.” – on not wanting to be
typecast as “the Netflix guy”
- The defining characteristic of Marc’s youth was his parent’s
encouragement to experiment.
- NOLS: At 14, Marc spent a month in the Wyoming
wilderness with National Outdoor Leadership School which taught him
how to lead and communicate with confidence + clarity.
- Immersing himself in nature allows Marc to live in the moment
unlike anything else.
- Randolph’s Rules for Success: Before starting
his first job, Marc’s father outline rules on how to be a good
person like: be open-minded but skeptical, quantify when possible,
and be considerate always.
- Early in his career, Marc learned that success is not economic
or commercial-based. Instead it’s fulfilling your passions and
strengths while being able to enjoy a family + hobbies.
- In his late-20s, Marc + his now-wife prioritized planning date
nights, found planning imperative, something he avoids as an
entrepreneur.
- Demonstrate the culture you want. Through
intentional planning and discipline, Marc prioritizes and
demonstrates a work-life balance which allows others in
organizations to model as well.
- Before landing on what would become Netflix, Marc + Reed
Hastings brainstormed numerous direct-to-consumer, 1:1
subscription-based concepts including custom shampoo, custom dog
food and personalized baseball bats.
- April 1998: Netflix is born. The inciting
event that led to the development of Netflix was mailing a CD (to
mimic the newly invented DVD) through the mail and it arriving the
following day, intact, for the price of a stamp.
- “The idea counts for nothing. The idea that you start with
almost never the product you end up with. It’s starting somewhere +
the journey that follows that leads to something that does
work.”
- Only way out is through: Desperate for a
collaboration with then-giant Blockbuster, Netflix’s pitch was
rejected. Knowing their model was more sustainable, they
strategically identified opportunities during a volatile economy in
order to survive while taking Blockbuster head-on.
- Little Engine That Could: Two years after the
Blockbuster rejection, Netflix’s innovative business model allowed
them to go public providing them ample resources to adequately
compete with Blockbuster.
- On his new podcast That Will Never Work, Marc coaches
early-stage entrepreneurs frequently on the personal issues
involved with starting a business like maintaining confidence and
relationships versus tactics and strategy.
- “I am most proud of my optimism.”
- Listen to Marc Randolph’s podcast That Will Never Work
here.
- Get Marc Randolph’s book That Will Never Work here.
MARC RANDOLPH'S LIVE
INSPIRED 7
1. What is the best book you’ve ever
read? Endurance by Alfred
Lansing.
2. What is a characteristic or trait that you
possessed as a child that you wish you still exhibited
today? Lack of embarrassment and willingness to be
ridiculous.
3. Your house is on fire, all living things and
people are out. You have the opportunity to run in and grab one
item. What would it be? Nothing.
4. You are sitting on a bench overlooking a
gorgeous beach. You have the opportunity to have a long
conversation with anyone living or dead. Who would it be?
I'm a history buff so maybeSigmund Freud, Ernest Shackleton or
Julius Caesar.
5. What is the best advice you’ve ever
received? Freud told me how big the Internet and Bitcoin
would be. No, nothing specific leaps out.
6. What advice would you give your 20-year-old
self? Trust your intuition about others.
7. It’s been said that all great people can have
their lives summed up in one sentence. How do you want yours to
read? He got people off their ass.
***
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