That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea
(By Marc Randolph)
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| Author | Marc Randolph |
Silicon Valley lore has it that Netflix was born out of a frustration with video stores' late fees, and while that is a convenient, charming story it is far from the truth. In reality, the idea was just one of many more and far worse proposals, like personalized baseball bats and a shampoo delivery service, that Marc Randolph would pitch to his business partner, Reed Hastings, on their commute to work each morning. From this ever-shifting pool of potential ventures the pair, with Hastings as the primary investor and Randolph as the CEO, took a risk and founded Netflix. Not until years later, when a billion dollar company emerged out of a business model that - after countless disasters and flirtations with bankruptcy - seemed destined for failure would the risk pay off and become one of the mostly incredible and unlikely success stories of our time.Now with over 125 million subscribers the triumph of Netflix feels inevitable, but at a time when brick and mortar video rental stores were king and DVD technology had yet to take off, its success was far from guaranteed. From having to pitch his own mother on being an early investor, to a motel business conference room that served as a first office, to helping develop Netflix's now-famous company culture, Marc Randolph's improbable journey exemplifies how anyone with grit, gut instincts and determination can transform the world we live in. Telling his story in energetic, compelling prose, Marc chronicles the personal and professional labors that went into the creation of the unicorn company that has disrupted the very foundations of the entertainment industry.
From having to pitch his own mother on being an early investor, to a motel business conference room that he decided would be their first office, to helping develop Netflix's now-famous company culture, Marc Randolph's improbable journey exemplifies how anyone with grit, gut instincts and determination can transform the world we live in.”
