Disruptors Marc Randolph: CEO of Netflix, Co-Founder & Serial Entrepreneur [Business, mindset, entrepreneur, disruptors]
There’s no such thing as a good idea. It’s in the process of discovering why it’s a bad idea that you realise what might work and you begin to experiment. In today’s episode of the Disruptive Entrepreneur Rob interviews serial tech entrepreneur, advisor, speaker, co-founder and first CEO of Netflix, Marc Randolph. In this insightful interview, Marc shares the untold story of Netflix, the mindset needed to cultivate ideas into companies and how you too can take action and start your own entrepreneurial journey.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
How was the idea for Netflix born? - In 1997 when I was my company was acquired I was left with about 6 months to invest myself into starting a new company and Reed Hastings was the angel investor and we began brainstorming ideas. We had hundreds of ideas and finally landed a DVD by mail business. Usually, a good idea is indistinguishable from a good idea until you do the research.
We had to come up with a new model to attract and acquire customers. No due date and no late fees had never really been done before. But we were terrified that Blockbuster would move online, if they had, they would have crushed us. They were a 6 billion dollar business, now a lot of success is down to the skill of the entrepreneur, but it’s also down to the lucky breaks and Netflix certainly had a lot of lucky breaks.
‘That will never work’ book by Marc Randolph - was originally supposed to be called ‘nobody knows anything’ inspired by a quote about Hollywood and that face none knows the success of something before it’s launched and this is very much true about start-ups and for Netflix. The title ‘That will never work’ is born from the idea that often people with ideas do not pursue them because of the opinions of others but in reality, none knows, you will only know if you try it and find out for yourself. The book is really the untold story of Netflix and what it takes to start a company.
Two steps to starting a successful company
- You need to have a propensity to take action - A lot of people with great ideas overcomplicate them in their head before starting and make it so complicated they cannot start. As an entrepreneur It’s not about how clever you are, it’s about creatively you can start as quickly and cheaply as possible.
- Focus and triage - It’s so powerful to put all of your efforts into a singular thing rather than trying to accomplish lots. However, at the same time, you need to have the intuition to know where to focus as it’s rarely the thing that screams the loudest. In the early stages of a company other two things matter, money and customers. A lot of entrepreneurs focus on the peripheral things that just do not matter in the beginning.
How important is speed to growing a company - Speed doesn’t matter if you’re product or service isn’t right. Netflix was domestic for a very long time because we wanted to get our business model right and we saw a lot of competitors try to launch too quickly. However, learning quickly is very important. Do not waste time polishing things but be efficient and make sure you get it right. Being the first to market doesn’t count for anything if you have poor execution, it’s important to test and with today’s technology you can test your ideas much easier.
How can you help people action their ideas - You need to train yourself to look for pain. Aim to seem the world as an imperfect place and all of a sudden you will have ideas flood to you. Ask yourself what’s frustrating, what would happen if? How could I try that? And to try it, but not in a scalable way just try it by testing the market. The ONLY way of figuring out if you have a good idea is to try it. You will only know when your idea collides with a consumer.
What does Disruptive mean to you? - is a different way of doing things, it’s a dramatic departure from the norm. In the Netflix case, there was an established way of watching video in your home. We believe there was a better way of doing this. Many models in all businesses are being disrupted and you need to ensure you also disrupt yourself.
BEST MOMENTS
“A great idea is like finding the missing piece of a jigsaw puzzle”
“There’s no such thing as a good idea. It’s in the process of discovering why it’s a bad idea that you realise what might work and you begin to experiment”
“There were a thousand different zigzags in the Netflix story”
“When we thought of movie rental by mail we didn’t immediately write a business plan, we tested it first”
“Netflix was not a pre-ordained success. In the beginning, it was a scrappy start-up. There were dozens of times we almost went out of business”
“When companies are more established and mature they have more to lose and as a result, they play it safe, they often opt against new technologies and emerging markets.”
“I almost never put my own money into a start-up because I’m putting my time in and that’s way more valuable”
[Business, mindset, entrepreneur, disruptors]
VALUABLE RESOURCES
That will never work - Marc Randolph
https://www.marcrandolph.com/about/
https://twitter.com/mbrandolph?lang=en
ABOUT THE HOST
Rob Moore is an author of 9 business books, 5 UK bestsellers, holds 3 world records for public speaking, entrepreneur, property investor, and property educator. Author of the global bestseller “Life Leverage” Host of UK’s No.1 business podcast “Disruptors”
“If you don't risk anything, you risk everything”
CONTACT METHOD
Rob’s official website: https://robmoore.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robmooreprogressive/?ref=br_rs
LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/robmoore1979
ABOUT THE GUEST
Marc Randolph is an American tech entrepreneur, advisor, speaker and environmental advocate. He is the co-founder and first CEO of Netflix. Marc is described as a serial entrepreneur who helped found the U.S. edition of Macworld magazine and the computer mail-order businesses MacWarehouse.