Marc Randolph

And that running didn't make the difference. And I vowed then and there I'd never run for a plane again. And I never have. And I'm telling you that story because it's a metaphor in that so many entrepreneurs spend all this time running for planes. They are up all night polishing their deck. They're reviewing the work of people to make sure the spelling is correct.

And that running didn't make the difference. And I vowed then and there I'd never run for a plane again. And I never have. And I'm telling you that story because it's a metaphor in that so many entrepreneurs spend all this time running for planes. They are up all night polishing their deck. They're reviewing the work of people to make sure the spelling is correct.

They're double checking every detail. They are working so hard. But I know from experience that it's like running for the plane. Most of the time, it doesn't make a difference. You don't lose the deal at two o'clock that morning because you didn't check the funds. You lost that deal four weeks ago when you didn't have some fundamentals right. Or you just weren't the right company to begin with.

They're double checking every detail. They are working so hard. But I know from experience that it's like running for the plane. Most of the time, it doesn't make a difference. You don't lose the deal at two o'clock that morning because you didn't check the funds. You lost that deal four weeks ago when you didn't have some fundamentals right. Or you just weren't the right company to begin with.

No matter how hard you worked, you weren't going to change the outcome. That is the key to having some balance in your life as an entrepreneur, is this recognition that if you're smart about the things that you choose to focus on, you make 99% of the difference. And that all that extra work does not really change the outcome any.

No matter how hard you worked, you weren't going to change the outcome. That is the key to having some balance in your life as an entrepreneur, is this recognition that if you're smart about the things that you choose to focus on, you make 99% of the difference. And that all that extra work does not really change the outcome any.

Yes, it does. Absolutely. I mean, if you want to make the plane, you know, you leave earlier. And again, it's not sometimes... Listen, you're going to stroll down the concourse. You don't need to run. And... If the plane left on time, running's not gonna make the difference. If the plane's late, running didn't make the difference. Either way you made it or didn't make it.

Yes, it does. Absolutely. I mean, if you want to make the plane, you know, you leave earlier. And again, it's not sometimes... Listen, you're going to stroll down the concourse. You don't need to run. And... If the plane left on time, running's not gonna make the difference. If the plane's late, running didn't make the difference. Either way you made it or didn't make it.

The amount of times that running for it was the gating item between whether you made it or not is like infinitesimal. So what's the point of running? And I really fundamentally believe that is that If I can be really smart about which problems I choose to focus on, I'll make the difference. I do not need to get everything right because most things don't make a difference. Some things do.

The amount of times that running for it was the gating item between whether you made it or not is like infinitesimal. So what's the point of running? And I really fundamentally believe that is that If I can be really smart about which problems I choose to focus on, I'll make the difference. I do not need to get everything right because most things don't make a difference. Some things do.

You know, we're talking about really finding product market fit. Product market fit, if I have to give a definition, is when you recognize you finally have something that customers actually do want. And it's recognized because all of a sudden the momentum of your business dramatically shifts. All of a sudden, things go into high gear. All of a sudden, acquiring customers is so much easier.

You know, we're talking about really finding product market fit. Product market fit, if I have to give a definition, is when you recognize you finally have something that customers actually do want. And it's recognized because all of a sudden the momentum of your business dramatically shifts. All of a sudden, things go into high gear. All of a sudden, acquiring customers is so much easier.

All of a sudden, they're sticking around. It's just this instantaneous, oh my God, we found it. And up until that point, it is this constant struggle of trying one thing after another, trying to increment your way closer and closer and closer. You know, when I mentioned that... At the beginning, there wasn't a lot of business model innovation with Netflix.

All of a sudden, they're sticking around. It's just this instantaneous, oh my God, we found it. And up until that point, it is this constant struggle of trying one thing after another, trying to increment your way closer and closer and closer. You know, when I mentioned that... At the beginning, there wasn't a lot of business model innovation with Netflix.

If you ordered a disc, we mailed it to you, we'd give you a due date. If you missed the due date, we had late fees. And the reality is the idea was ridiculous. It didn't work. Nobody would rent from us. And if you did rent from us once, you didn't rent from us again. And we kind of had this realization that, okay, we gotta begin figuring things out.

If you ordered a disc, we mailed it to you, we'd give you a due date. If you missed the due date, we had late fees. And the reality is the idea was ridiculous. It didn't work. Nobody would rent from us. And if you did rent from us once, you didn't rent from us again. And we kind of had this realization that, okay, we gotta begin figuring things out.

And thus began this year and a half long process of trying to figure out some way to get people to rent DVDs by mail from us. And we tried almost everything you could think of, hundreds of things. And I kind of talk about this a bunch that I had no shortage of ideas. I mean, I had lots of things I wanted to try.

And thus began this year and a half long process of trying to figure out some way to get people to rent DVDs by mail from us. And we tried almost everything you could think of, hundreds of things. And I kind of talk about this a bunch that I had no shortage of ideas. I mean, I had lots of things I wanted to try.

And if there was a problem that I had, it was that I was a bit of a perfectionist back then. And so all these tests that I'd wanna run, I'd want them to be perfect. So we would lovingly argue over every word of copy and we would do custom photography and we would check every link and we'd stress test the site. And it might take us three weeks or a month to prepare for this test.

And if there was a problem that I had, it was that I was a bit of a perfectionist back then. And so all these tests that I'd wanna run, I'd want them to be perfect. So we would lovingly argue over every word of copy and we would do custom photography and we would check every link and we'd stress test the site. And it might take us three weeks or a month to prepare for this test.