That Will Never Work (Audio Download): Marc Randolph, Marc Randolph, Endeavour: Amazon.co.uk: Books
£2.80
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 cofounder and first CEO Marc Randolph.
Once upon a time, brick-and-mortar video stores were king. Late fees were ubiquitous, video streaming unheard of, and widespread DVD adoption seemed about as imminent as flying cars. 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 proposals, like personalised 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 21st 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 they 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, however, isn’t just the inside story of one of the world’s most iconic companies. Full of counterintuitive 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.
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by Tony Gurney
There are hundreds of books that describe the genesis of companies. The vast majority of these may be worthy, contain the odd nugget of information or, very rarely, be interesting. Most, however, are not.
This book is that rarity. A business start up book that reads like a page-turning novel that can be devoured in one sitting.
Highly recommended.
by Cameron Moughton
An extremely funny well written book, I recommend to anybody.
by Scott
An insight into the creation of Netflix. Gripping.
by Gustavus Adolphus
I enjoyed this back story to Netflix. It wasn’t a long ride on how it got to where it was. It just told you how it started, who with and how it survived early on.
The main story we know from media and the internet. But this was interesting in showing how things start and when things change for everyone.
Good stuff.
by student 92
This book offers an insight into the formation and journey of Netflix from the lens of Marc. I enjoyed reading about the journey while stumbling across gems that provoke thought. I have been encouraged to expand my business plans and move quicker and smarter to have greater impact.
by Samantha
I really wanted to like this. I thought it would be like shoe dog which was fabulous and so inspiring but it wasn’t. The founder was already rich and mentions that he’s living the dream and could have retired before 40 but had a need to start a company. It was interesting to go through his thought process but he put 2 million into it as a start up which most of us don’t have. It’s a story of the rich getting richer. Although I’m so thankful to him as I couldn’t imagine my life without Netflix but wasn’t the rags to riches story I hoped it would be.
by Kindle Customer
Many people dream about doing something great. Few actually do. Even fewer write about it and almost no-one does it as well as Marc Randolph. Having lately started managing a startup at the tender age of 62 there is so much that resonated with me in this book, and even more that I took from it. Really inspiring.
by Steven Aitchison
I managed to get time to read this in two days and I thought it was a really good book.
There’s a few things that stood out for me.
1. There was a really amazing piece of advice from his mother on page 65 when Marc is asking for advice on a large mortgage: ” If you want it, don’t try to bargain and risk losing it, ” she told me. ” The anxiety of paying too much won’t last, but the enjoyment of living there will last forever. Go all in.” _ loved that.
2. I was surprised that Marc didn’t come across as a leader, rather he came across as an ideas man and as somepne who got things started after the idea. This is not a bad thing, but I was surprised by it thorughout the book.
One ting I didn’t like and why I gave it 4 stars was the fact that it didn’t have a lot of information about the transition to digital and it’s current iteration.
I also loved the Randolph Rules for Success from his father.
Overall, a thoroughly good read and honest account of running a business from idea to creating a business.