That Will Never Work

The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea

By: Marc Randolph

Narrated by: Marc Randolph

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 co-founder and first CEO Marc Randolph.

Once upon a time, brick-and-mortar video stores were king. Late fees were ubiquitous, video-streaming unheard was of, and widespread DVD adoption seemed about as imminent as flying cars. Indeed, 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 and far worse proposals, like personalized 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 twenty first 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 Netflix brass 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, though, isn't just the inside story of one of the world's most iconic companies. Full of counter-intuitive 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.

©2019 Marc Randolph (P)2019 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Engaging and insightful"—Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix

"Netflix was built on the vision and creative DNA of one man—Marc Randolph. As the founding CEO, his leadership defined the culture of Netflix and laid the groundwork for successive, global revolutions in how we make and consume entertainment. His willingness to step aside so that his co-founder Reed Hastings could scale up the company stands as an example of humility and self-knowledge that is rare in the startup world."—Gina Keating, author of Netflixed: The Epic Battle for America's Eyeballs

"Marc is an unusually brave soul. Marc's genius in recognizing that not knowing frees you to experiment and observe and to ultimately win."—Lloyd Tabb, founder of Looker

Love this title!

Netflix is a highly respectable company for many different reasons. Learning the origin of this company and it’s start up challenges were very inspiring and interesting. The narration and storyline is superb. Loved this title.

Definitely worth the time!

Amazing! A true glimpse of leadership throughout. a captivating tale that inspires and is sprinkled with so many nuggets of wisdom. Definitely worth the time.

incredibly inspiring

A fantastic author-read book with inspirational insights for any person keen on building new things

Definitely binge worthy

Loved this book. Mark is a great storyteller and brings the the raw and wonderful early days of Netflix to life.

Authentic and fascinating

This is a truly excellent account of the founding of Netflix, and by far the best business memoir I have ever come across. Though a little naively arrogant at times (ex: in the early days of Netflix the author had to get by living in only a $1 million home, gasp), it was mostly genuine and so worth the listen.

Great story, well narrated

A great book, well written, excellently narrated, very easy to listen to and enjoyable. Highly recommended,

Miguel Niño

Pretty easy to follow up with the story and nice to hear it from its author voice!

The Story of Netflix

A detailed, riveting journey of how Netflix became one of the most influential companies in recent history. The differentiation between people who excel at structuring startups and those who excel at growing established companies resonates. When reaching success, the emptiness can be attributed to the journey reaching its desired destination and pivoting to the thrill of the next endeavor can be the next motivating pursuit. Enjoy this book and apply the learnings to your daily life!

This book has healed my entrepreneur soul

Mark's honesty is a breath of fresh air in a bubble of books that erase most of the struggle that a new startup requires.
It has been lifechanging for me. Thanks!

A Winner

Netflix was not the only win for Marc Randolph! This book is binge-worthy! Such fun and passion and authenticity and brilliance. Loved it all!