That Will Never Work

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.
'Engaging and insightful.' Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix

'Charming, fascinating and very funny. Marc Randolph demystifies the world of Silicon Valley start-ups, and makes you laugh a lot along the way.' Decca Aitkenhead, The Sunday Times

'A charming first-person account of the early days of one of the most successful tech start-ups ever.' The Washington Post

Once upon a time, brick-and-mortar video stores were king. Late fees were ubiquitous, video-streaming unheard of, and DVD adoption seemed 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, that Randolph would pitch to his business partner, Reed Hastings. 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. Marc Randolph's transformational journey exemplifies how anyone with grit 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 counter-intuitive concepts and written in binge-worthy prose, it answers some of our most fundamental questions about taking that leap of faith in life: How do you begin? How do you weather disappointment and failure? What is success?

From idea generation to team building to knowing when to let go, That Will Never Work is one of the most dramatic and insightful entrepreneurial stories of our time.