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There are no bulleted lists of key points, but there’s a lot of wisdom packed in the stories. That Will Never Work is for you if you want to look at the reality of start-ups and innovation. This is more like the advice I give my grandsons. You won’t like it if you want to know “The Secret” of Netflix success.

You won’t like this book if you’re looking for a simple formula you can copy. It’s humility that recognizes the contributions of other people and the role of luck and how many times he screwed up. Not big-time-big-deal-big-business-success humility, digging a big toe in the dirt for effect. He shows us an example of success without shredding personal relationships. There are a lot of Silicon Valley “successes” where I think, “I’d love his bank account, but I wouldn’t want his life.” Marc Randolph does the rest of us a service. I loved the fact that Marc tells about how he maintained a strong relationship with his family. Marc would probably take a deep breath and a sip of wine before telling you about the times Netflix came close to being another failed company. Both show the messiness of getting from start up to success. That Will Never Work reminded me of Phil Knight’s Shoe Dog. Take another sip of wine, while Marc lays them out, including how hard it was to ask his mother for start-up money. Many stories of great companies leave out the parts about being scared to death or being uncomfortable. You’ll find explanations of terms like “dilution” and “collaborative filtering.” He’d give you a quick, but helpful answer. If you were listening to Marc, you might take a sip of wine and ask him to explain a term or two you don’t understand. Marc Randolph calls this book, “a memoir, not a documentary.” He tells you the story of the early days of the idea and the company that became Netflix the way he might do it over a glass of wine on the deck on a late summer afternoon. Netflix is like most companies, except you can add a lot of testing to the mix. Instead, they become great by meeting challenges. And companies don’t become great because of great strategies elegantly executed. The insight becomes a great company through a series of flawlessly planned and executed steps. Most business creation stories feature a great flash of insight. Note that I didn’t say a “great idea.” Most ideas don’t start out great. That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea by Marc Randolph is a great book about a particular company that illustrates how an idea develops.

Book that will never work