Marc Randolph
In a surprising statement serial entrepreneur, and best known for being the co-founder and first CEO of Netflix, Marc Randolph has said that there is no such thing as a good idea for a start-up.
Sharing lessons from his journey, he also emphasized that spending a lot of time trying to validate an idea is not useful.
Speaking at the latest edition of Qatar Foundation’s Education City Speaker Series he said, “Do more and think less,” and said that when an idea pops into successful entrepreneurs’ head, they don’t think of whether it’s good or bad, but quickly execute it.
The talk titled ‘Don’t Let Dreams Be Dreams: What to Do with an Idea’, and themed around innovation and entrepreneurship – coupled with sustainability – Randolph’s talk focused on the start-up culture and how to foster entrepreneurial mindsets, as well as how to start building innovative businesses that are socially and environmentally conscious.
Randolph’s advice to entrepreneurs is to think about how to build a business that is relevant today, and one that will still be relevant when the world changes. “Don’t fall in love with the idea,” he said. “Fall in love with the problem.”
During the talk, moderated by user experience and design consultant Agata Braja, Randolph recounted his journey at Netflix.
Randolph, who played a crucial role, as co-founder of Netflix, in turning the idea of a DVD-by-mail service into a massive business said, “No such thing is a good idea, every idea is a bad idea until you validate in real world scenario.”
He said that every idea collapses under the weight of having to confront a real problem, but once you recognise that, you can start to test the idea and unpack the reasons why it is not working.
Randolph said that after tossing around a few admittedly weird ideas like making personalised shampoo and a conversation around a new thing called DVDs, the idea of movie rentals by mail started to make sense to him and Reed Hastings, together with whom he founded Netflix.
It’s been over 20 years since Netflix was founded, and Randolph still remembers how his friends, his employees, even his mother told him that the idea would never work. He was told so much so that he titled his book and his podcast ‘That Will Never Work.’
“People seem to think Netflix was one great idea that came into existence instantly, but that wasn’t the case. We were working on this idea of turning into a streaming service for nine years,” he said.
That’s what’s driven Randolph through every step of his entrepreneurial journey — a passion for solving problems, of getting together with smart, passionate people, and figuring something out. After all, when he started his first business, “entrepreneur” wasn’t even a well-known term, he said.
Randolph said that it’s impressive to see the learning opportunities available for those willing to become entrepreneurs. However, he said that practical knowledge is equally important to become entrepreneurs.
