Former Netflix CEO: “They're Lying To You About Hard Work!” Building a $278 Billion Company Wasn’t Built On Hard Work!

About this episode

Because you watched Diary Of A CEO: the path to Netflix's $300 billion empire Marc Randolph is the co-founder and former CEO of Netflix, he is also the author of the international bestseller, ‘That Will Never Work' and the host of the podcast of the same name. In this conversation, Marc and Steven discuss topics such as, the importance of pride in work, the pitch that almost ruined Netflix, how Marc overcame $50 million of debt, and the one decision that saved Netflix.  (00:00) Intro (00:37) What’s your mission? (02:12) Why did you write this book? (03:25) Your journey to Netflix, what got you there? (06:51) Meeting your Netflix co-founder (08:28) Searching for a business idea (12:03) How to know if you’ve got a winning business idea (16:45) The importance of stress testing your idea (21:11) Being too romantic about your idea (24:19) Netflix’s early years (31:12) Exploring the potential of selling to Amazon (35:44) What was Jeff like in 1999? (36:29) Stepping down as CEO (45:21) What was it that he had that he thought was better? (46:41) Having tough conversations (50:37) What makes Reed so successful? (51:55) Hard work: does it matter? (58:14) How to find the perfect product-market fit (01:02:11) The moment Netflix turned on subscriptions it changed everything (01:09:36) How many tests should we be conducting? (01:11:16) Getting employees to conduct more tests (01:13:24) Your dad passing away (01:18:58) The dot-com crash (01:23:01) Getting the call from Blockbuster to buy Netflix (01:29:37) Blockbuster nearly took Netflix down, until their CEO left (01:33:41) Leaving Netflix (01:38:47) Netflix culture (01:49:57) Your relationship and commitment to date nights (01:56:13) The last guest’s question Follow Marc: Twitter - https://g2ul0.app.link/NcZZFoH1FLb  Instagram - https://g2ul0.app.link/z7yXEFJ1FLb  You can purchase Marc’s book, ‘That Will Never Work’, here: https://g2ul0.app.link/jeSxs0R1FLb  Watch the episodes on Youtube - https://g2ul0.app.link/DOACEpisodes  My new book! 'The 33 Laws Of Business & Life' is out now - https://g2ul0.app.link/DOACBook  You can purchase the The Diary Of A CEO Conversation Cards: Second Edition, here: https://g2ul0.app.link/f31dsUttKKb  Follow me: https://beacons.ai/diaryofaceo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices