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Marc Randolph

That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea Hardcover – September 17, 2019

by Marc Randolph (Author)

4.6 4,109 ratings

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In the tradition of Phil Knight's Shoe Dog comes the incredible untold story of how Netflix went from concept to company-all revealed by co-founder and first CEO Marc Randolph.

Once upon a time, brick-and-mortar video stores were king. Late fees were ubiquitous, video-streaming unheard was of, and widespread DVD adoption seemed about as imminent as flying cars. Indeed, these were the widely accepted laws of the land in 1997, when Marc Randolph had an idea. It was a simple thought—leveraging the internet to rent movies—and was just one of many more and far worse proposals, like personalized baseball bats and a shampoo delivery service, that Randolph would pitch to his business partner, Reed Hastings, on their commute to work each morning.

But Hastings was intrigued, and the pair—with Hastings as the primary investor and Randolph as the CEO—founded a company. Now with over 150 million subscribers, Netflix's triumph feels inevitable, but the twenty first century's most disruptive start up began with few believers and calamity at every turn. From having to pitch his own mother on being an early investor, to the motel conference room that served as a first office, to server crashes on launch day, to the now-infamous meeting when Netflix brass pitched Blockbuster to acquire them, Marc Randolph's transformational journey exemplifies how anyone with grit, gut instincts, and determination can change the world—even with an idea that many think will never work.

What emerges, though, isn't just the inside story of one of the world's most iconic companies. Full of counter-intuitive concepts and written in binge-worthy prose, it answers some of our most fundamental questions about taking that leap of faith in business or in life: How do you begin? How do you weather disappointment and failure? How do you deal with success? What even is success?

From idea generation to team building to knowing when it's time to let go, That Will Never Work is not only the ultimate follow-your-dreams parable, but also one of the most dramatic and insightful entrepreneurial stories of our time.

Print length

336 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Little, Brown and Company
Publication date

September 17, 2019
Dimensions

6.45 x 1.35 x 9.55 inches
ISBN-10

0316530204
ISBN-13

978-0316530200
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People want to be treated like adults. They want to have a mission they believe in, a problem to solve, and space to solve it. They want to be surrounded by other adults whose abilities they respect.
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What they really want is freedom and responsibility. They want to be loosely coupled but tightly aligned.
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“If you really want to build an estate, own your own business. Control your own life.”
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Engaging and insightful"―Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix

"Netflix was built on the vision and creative DNA of one man — Marc Randolph. As the founding CEO, his leadership defined the culture of Netflix and laid the groundwork for successive, global revolutions in how we make and consume entertainment. His willingness to step aside so that his co-founder Reed Hastings could scale up the company stands as an example of humility and self-knowledge that is rare in the startup world."―Gina Keating, author of Netflixed: The Epic Battle for America's Eyeballs

"Marc is an unusually brave soul. Marc's genius in recognizing that not knowing frees you to experiment and observe and to ultimately win."―Lloyd Tabb, founder ofLooker

"Marc wastes no time cutting through the noise and identifying the truth. Every moment I have spent with Marc, whether it was as he formulated and launched Netflix or since then, has been truly rewarding. Marc understands what is important whether it is your product, your marketing, or your business plan. A remarkable and one of a kind visionary."―Mitch Lowe, founder of RedBox

"An entertaining chronicle of creativity, luck, and unflagging perseverance."―Kirkus

About the Author

Marc Randolph is a veteran Silicon Valley entrepreneur, advisor, and investor, whose career as an entrepreneur spans four decades. In addition to being the co-founder and first CEO of Netflix, Marc has founded or co-founded six other successful startups, mentored hundreds of early-stage entrepreneurs, and as an investor has helped seed dozens of successful tech ventures (and just as many unsuccessful ones). He is host of the top-10 Apple podcast That Will Never Work, where he works directly with entrepreneurs to provide 1-on-1 mentoring. He lives in Santa Cruz, California.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Little, Brown and Company; Advanced Reader Copy edition (September 17, 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0316530204
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0316530200
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.25 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.45 x 1.35 x 9.55 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #374,632 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #592 in Company Business Profiles (Books)
- #980 in Business Professional's Biographies
- #2,027 in Entrepreneurship (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.6 4,109 ratings

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Marc Randolph

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Marc Randolph is a veteran Silicon Valley entrepreneur, advisor and investor. Marc was co-founder of Netflix, serving as their founding CEO, as the executive producer of their web site, and as a member of their board of directors.

Although best known for starting Netflix, Marc’s career as an entrepreneur spans more than four decades. He's founded or co-founded more than half a dozen other successful start-ups, mentored rising entrepreneurs including the co-founders of Looker Data which was recently sold to Google for $2.6B, and invested in numerous successful tech ventures.

He is a frequent speaker at industry events, works extensively with young entrepreneur programs, sits on the board of the environmental advocacy group 1% for the Planet, and chairs the National Outdoor Leadership School’s Board of Trustees.

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Rufus Lefbetter

An Entertaining Narrative Revealing the Beginnings of Netflix

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 11, 2020

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Business ideas are easy to brainstorm. Improving the way people do things and seeing an idea through to fruition is hard. More difficult is believing that your idea is worthy enough to risk starting a new company.

How a company makes it from conception to prominence is what Netflix co-founder Mark Randolph reveals in his book: “That Will Never Work”. His story begins on a daily carpool with his friend and co-worker Reed Hastings. Their daily ritual included brainstorming new business concepts that pop into their heads. Things are getting a bit stressful for Randolph who will soon be out of a job as Hastings is selling the tech company Randolph works for.
Randolph is never short on ideas which he numbers and tracks in a notebook. His brainstorms, include personalized shampoo, dog food, and baseball bats. Some ideas are vetted, others are quickly shot down. One day Randolph floats a service that could mail movie videos direct to consumers without charging fees. The thought strikes a chord with Hastings who fears telling his wife about $40 in late fees he owes at a local video store. The conversation continues. Both agree that Randolph should form a company to pursue the concept and Hastings will initially fund it.

It should be made clear that this isn’t exactly a rags-to-riches story. The two Netflix co-founders worked in California’s Silicon Valley for several years, understanding the nuances of pitching a concept, garnering investment money, and building a business to scale.

When Netflix begins in 1997 and the company begins to hire employees, there are few movie DVDs available. Popular movie videos are mostly available in a bulky to mail VHS format. More importantly, DVD players are still in their infancy and Netflix is gambling on a customer rental model that has yet to form.

As customers slowly adapt to the virtual video store concept. Netflix is selling more (but less profitable) videos than it is renting them, while wasting money on coupon deals with the major manufacturers that sell DVD players. It’s only after an experimental subscription model gains traction that the company shows promise.

This chicken before the egg puzzle makes up the compelling portion of “That Will Never Work”. Randolph is candid with recounting how the company struggles to keep afloat while it waits for consumer behavior to catch up with Netflix’s perceived potential. The world slowly adapts but at the eleventh hour, the California tech bubble bursts and Randolph and Hastings fear that it’s too late.

With Netflix close to insolvency, one of the book’s strangest twists is a long anticipated meeting with the then juggernaut Blockbuster Video. Randolph and Hastings pitch the idea of Blockbuster purchasing Netflix for $50 million. Blockbuster almost laughs the assembled Netflix team out of the room. Months later the subscription rental model finally catches fire and Netflix has the last laugh.

Told as an entertaining first-person narrative, Randolph’s behind the scenes anecdotes reveal his strengths and also his blind spots. As he looks back at the evolution of Netflix, he points to instances where the company almost collapsed, giving major credit to his staff and their determination to always rebound from adversity. Oh, and that interesting title: “That Will Never Work”? It was Randolph’s wife’s response when he first told her about his Netflix brainstorm.

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Wally Bock

Not your typical startup story, but one of the best

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 23, 2020

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That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea by Marc Randolph is a great book about a particular company that illustrates how an idea develops. Note that I didn’t say a “great idea.” Most ideas don’t start out great.

Most business creation stories feature a great flash of insight. The insight becomes a great company through a series of flawlessly planned and executed steps. But life is not like that. Most ideas don’t start out great. They don’t happen all at once. They evolve. And companies don’t become great because of great strategies elegantly executed. They aren’t great right of the gate. Instead, they become great by meeting challenges.

Netflix is like most companies, except you can add a lot of testing to the mix. Marc Randolph calls this book, “a memoir, not a documentary.” He tells you the story of the early days of the idea and the company that became Netflix the way he might do it over a glass of wine on the deck on a late summer afternoon.

If you were listening to Marc, you might take a sip of wine and ask him to explain a term or two you don’t understand. He’d give you a quick, but helpful answer. He does that in the book. You’ll find explanations of terms like “dilution” and “collaborative filtering.”

He gets the emotional parts right. Many stories of great companies leave out the parts about being scared to death or being uncomfortable. Take another sip of wine, while Marc lays them out, including how hard it was to ask his mother for start-up money.

That Will Never Work reminded me of Phil Knight’s Shoe Dog. Both show the messiness of getting from start up to success. Both illustrate the role of luck. Marc would probably take a deep breath and a sip of wine before telling you about the times Netflix came close to being another failed company.

There were some big plusses for me. I loved the fact that Marc tells about how he maintained a strong relationship with his family. There are a lot of Silicon Valley “successes” where I think, “I’d love his bank account, but I wouldn’t want his life.” Marc Randolph does the rest of us a service. He shows us an example of success without shredding personal relationships.

I loved the humility. Not big-time-big-deal-big-business-success humility, digging a big toe in the dirt for effect. This is real humility. It’s humility that recognizes the contributions of other people and the role of luck and how many times he screwed up. It’s real life humility.

So, what’s not to like?

You won’t like this book if you’re looking for a simple formula you can copy. You won’t like it if you want to know “The Secret” of Netflix success. This is more like the advice I give my grandsons. Work hard. Treat people right. Keep getting up after you stumble.

In a Nutshell

That Will Never Work is for you if you want to look at the reality of start-ups and innovation. There are no bulleted lists of key points, but there’s a lot of wisdom packed in the stories.

3 people found this helpful

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Lindsey Post

Informative

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 11, 2023

Verified Purchase

It was a slow read but getting a glimpse of how Netflix was created was really interesting and exciting. It really makes the impossible sound possible. It felt like I went through all of the ups and downs with them. Even knowing the outcome I still felt sad in the down moments. Really good read for sure.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 9, 2022

Verified Purchase

Great book! I first saw this book at my work's library. I rented it and didn't have the time to get through it. So I ordered it and I love it. It was so interesting reading about how Netflix started. All the brainstorming, thinking through problems, accomplishments and fails. It was a motivating book to read, highly recommend.

One person found this helpful

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Jake Thompson

But It Did Work, And Randolph Proves It!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 30, 2020

Verified Purchase

Ever wondered how Netflix got its start? Look no further than the book That Will Never Work by Marc Randolph, the founder of Netflix and first chief executive officer. Randolph, a visionary in his own regard, writes about the humble beginnings of the beloved entertainment media giant of today and how an idea so small and yet so revolutionary would forever change the technology and media landscapes. Faced with the odds of becoming a laughingstock in the digital era, Randolph writes with clarity and simplicity of the decisions and focus points he made during the early days to not only launch Netflix from the ground, but to take it to new heights. Within the words of Randolph and the story of Netflix are relevant business lessons that anyone can take away and learn from. Along with his inner circle, including angel investor at the time, Reed Hastings, Randolph proves that he got the last laugh in That Will Never Work. It is highly recommended that for those wanting to learn more about Netflix read this book first and then follow it with Hastings, Meyers book No Rules Rules and Netflixed by Gina Keating.

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Eduardo Castro

Un libro fascinante

Reviewed in Mexico 🇲🇽 on November 3, 2020

Verified Purchase

Marc Randolph nos da un vistazo detallado y honesto de los primeros años de Netflix y de todos los obstáculos que aparecieron en el camino. El relato es ameno, entretenido y profundamente introspectivo, y aunque los principales momentos de tensión y drama se resuelven al final de la historia, otros quedan al aire astutamente introducidos en la narración para que el lector saque sus propias conclusiones. Es un libro recomendable que empodera la perseverancia en hacer realidad nuestros ideales a pesar de las dificultades que inevitablemente se presentarán, dejándonos una serie de principios concisos para lograrlo.

One person found this helpful

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Cliente Amazon

ótima biografia

Reviewed in Brazil 🇧🇷 on October 15, 2019

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Excelente biografia, muito bem escrita

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Tomoyuki

Netflixの創業期が、活き活きとユーモアを交えて描かれています。

Reviewed in Japan 🇯🇵 on August 29, 2020

Verified Purchase

Netflixの創業者、Marc Randolph氏が同社の創業期を描いた作品です。Marcが、仕事仲間のReed Hastings氏と共に、オンラインでDVDをレンタルする会社（Netflix社）を1998年に創業し、dot-com bubbleなどの幾多の困難を乗り越えて2002年に上場を果たし、翌年にMarcが同社を離れるまでが描かれています。ちなみにReed Hastings氏は、現在もNetflixのCEOを務めております。

Netflixは、動画配信の会社として創業されたと思っていたのですが、本書を読んで初めて、元々はオンラインのDVDレンタル会社であったことを知りました。そして、当時すでにsubscription serviceを取り入れていたことにも驚きました。同社は、現在、コロナ禍の巣ごもり需要で会員が急増している注目企業ですので、タイムリーな読書になりました。

Marcの視点から描かれているので、少し都合よく書かれているとは思いますが、創業時の雑然とした、活気のある雰囲気や、会社が大きくなるにつれて次第に統制の取れた組織に変わっていく様子が、活き活きとユーモアを交えて描かれていて、最初から最後まで楽しく読むことができました。また、Marcが仕事だけでなく家族との時間も大切にする様子、仕事仲間を家族のように大事にする様子、自分の得意分野（と得意でない分野）を自覚して潔くNetflixを去っていく様子に、とても好感が持てました。

本書を読み終わったあとに、今度はReed Hastings氏に、Marcが去ったあとのNetflixについて（どのように試行錯誤して動画配信サービスへ移行していったかについて、等々）書いて欲しいと思いました。

読みやすさとしては、時々、難しい単語や、知らない映画等の話題が出てきますが、文章自体は読みやすかったです。創業時のメンバー、初期の頃のメンバーが、個性的に活き活きと描かれているので、読んでいて面白かったです。お勧めです！

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Kamarul Azrin

Life, business, partnership - you never know anything

Reviewed in Australia 🇦🇺 on June 15, 2020

Verified Purchase

I'm not an avid reader but I certainly enjoyed this book from cover to cover. For me, it's on of those "I'll try the sample" and after a few pages got hooked up and bought it outright.
Basically it's the story from how the idea for Netflix started and up to its IPO listing; it does not cover the part where they transitioned to the online streaming.
Initially I thought the title was about proving the doubters wrong (it was in a way) but this book provides more than just that.
The highs and lows of business startups, recognizing the strength to build a business, acknowledging when to step back to let others follow through - I love Marc's way of storytelling.

Faye

A good insight into the rocky road of a start up. Never give up!

Reviewed in Australia 🇦🇺 on October 26, 2019

Verified Purchase

What an insight into what has become a very successful company!
I found the details of the early days of Netflix fascinating and as I was listening to it unfold wondered how they made it through to being profitable in what seemed at the time to be a poor business model.
I’d like to know the rest of the story to current time.
I believe this book is best enjoyed as an audible as my partner is reading the book and is not finding it as engaging as I did.

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