Marc Randolph

How We Took a Crazy Idea, Built Netflix and Disrupted an Industry

That Will Never Work

𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸

It's always interesting to know how a company was built. As an engineer, I always think about solving problems and my ideas always come from problems. Netflix was different, it looked more like a brainstorming of ideas. And it kind of reminds me of when I was 18 to 21 having discussions with friends about ideas, business, and entrepreneurship in general. That were great times discussing ideas and feeling optimistic about the future. 

The book is very real. When he talks about asking for money, for future investors, for her parents, for his family. Today is "easier" to ask for investors’ money. Back then it was a totally different time.

So magical is the process of launching a new product/startup. Real customers come in. Servers crashing. A hundred new problems. A lot of things to work on. But the product was live and the real people were using it. Building products for real people is magical. The "launch" chapter was my favorite.

𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝗿𝗮

It was interesting that only 6 months after launching Netflix, they already received an offer to sell it to Amazon. Even in 1998, the tech industry was fast.

Blockbuster was a thing in my childhood, I didn't know Netflix at all. At least in Brazil, it was not that big. I liked the idea of walking into the nearest blockbuster with my brothers to choose one movie each.

𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲

It was interesting reading they tried the subscription model to rent DVDs and were deciding if dropping the a la carte renting was the best option for them. I had the very same experience when I was working as a software engineer for a startup called Worldpackers, where we had a pay-per-trip and experimented with the subscription model. It was so good we dropped the pay-per-trip model to focus on the subscription model only.

𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

Alex Balkanski talking about sending DVDs by mail was not a good idea. A better one would be streaming through the internet. This is in 1997. The man was ahead of time.

𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸

It's always interesting to know how a company was built. As an engineer, I always think about solving problems and my ideas always come from problems. Netflix was different, it looked more like a brainstorming of ideas. And it kind of reminds me of when I was 18 to 21 having discussions with friends about ideas, business, and entrepreneurship in general. That were great times discussing ideas and feeling optimistic about the future. 

The book is very real. When he talks about asking for money, for future investors, for her parents, for his family. Today is "easier" to ask for investors’ money. Back then it was a totally different time.

So magical is the process of launching a new product/startup. Real customers come in. Servers crashing. A hundred new problems. A lot of things to work on. But the product was live and the real people were using it. Building products for real people is magical. The "launch" chapter was my favorite.

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𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝗿𝗮

It was interesting that only 6 months after launching Netflix, they already received an offer to sell it to Amazon. Even in 1998, the tech industry was fast.

Blockbuster was a thing in my childhood, I didn't know Netflix at all. At least in Brazil, it was not that big. I liked the idea of walking into the nearest blockbuster with my brothers to choose one movie each.

---

𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲

It was interesting reading they tried the subscription model to rent DVDs and were deciding if dropping the a la carte renting was the best option for them. I had the very same experience when I was working as a software engineer for a startup called Worldpackers, where we had a pay-per-trip and experimented with the subscription model. It was so good we dropped the pay-per-trip model to focus on the subscription model only.

---

𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

Alex Balkanski talking about sending DVDs by mail was not a good idea. A better one would be streaming through the internet. This is in 1997. The man was ahead of time.

That Will Never Work How We Took a Crazy Idea, Built Netflix and Disrupted an Industry

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