This skill made Netflix worth $289 billion, says co-founder: ‘Hard work leading to success is a myth’
“I think hard work leading to success is a myth,” he said. “If I can be really smart about which problems I choose to focus on, [that] will make the difference. I don’t have to get everything right, because most things don’t make a difference. Some things do.”
At Netflix, Randolph used to “argue over every word of copy” and every photograph on consumer-facing products, he said — desperate to make sure everything was perfect before a customer saw it, he said.
Over time, he realized that customer reactions had little to do with the amount of polish on a new idea, and that his goal should’ve been to get real-life feedback on imperfect, half-finished tests as quickly as possible, he added.
“If it had even a inkling of being a good idea, no matter how bad the test was, it shown through,” said Randolph. “Customers would immediately perk their heads up.”
“So many entrepreneurs [are] up all night polishing their deck ... double checking every detail [and working] so hard,” Randolph said. But “you don’t lose the deal at 2 o’clock that morning because you didn’t check the fonts. You lost the deal four weeks ago when you didn’t have some fundamentals right.
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/17/netflix-co-founder-marc-randolph-hard-work-success-myth.html
