Co-founder of Netflix will address turning dreams into reality

Marc Randolph’s interest in customer behavior computer software led him to co-found Netflix. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE.

Famously known for starting one of the biggest video-streaming services in the world, Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph will speak to USF students about how to put ideas into plans that achieve results.

The Muma College of Business Thought Leader Series is hosting Randolph as the second speaker of the series, having previously hosted Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.

The lecture will be Feb. 21 at 2:30 p.m. in the Marshall Student Center Oval Theater. The doors open at 2:10 p.m. and the event is open to the public, but tickets reservations will be required to be admitted into the lecture.

During the lecture, Randolph will deliver a 40-minute talk about his achievements, innovations and his career, including the creation of the Netflix empire. After the lecture, a limited number of audience questions submitted via Twitter using the event hashtag: #USFMumaTLS will be taken for an additional 30 minutes.

Born in Chappaqua, New York, Randolph is an American entrepreneur, adviser and investor.

Randolph began his career at Cherry Lane Music Company in its mail-order operation. He developed direct mail and marketing techniques when selling catalogs of sheet music to consumers. Later on, Randolph’s interest in computer software to track customers’ buying behavior led him to co-found Netflix.

Alongside Reed Hastings, Randolph drafted Netflix’s initial idea to provide DVD sales by mail, focusing on rentals. In 2007, the company introduced its streaming service and in 2010, expanded its services internationally. Netflix’s annual revenues now surpass the $3 billion mark.

According to the Wealth Record, Randolph’s total estimated net worth is about $1.3 billion.

Besides Netflix, Randolph co-founded the analytics software company Looker Data Sciences and is an adviser to numerous other startups, serving as a mentor, CEO coach and board member, according to his website.

Due to its increasing popularity, Netflix is considered even bigger than Disney. According to Quartz, the video-streaming service, which held its initial public offering 16 years ago, Netflix surpassed Disney on May 24, 2018, in market value.

Netflix’s market capitalization rose to around $152.5 billion while Disney’s dipped to around $152.1 billion.

Throughout his time working at Netflix, Randolph served as its founding CEO, executive producer of its website and as a member of its board of directors until his retirement in 2004.

In an interview with CNBC, Randolph said that just having a great idea is not enough to be successful.

"If you have an idea and you don't take action, you're done," Randolph said. "You can knock us down over and over and over again and we'd just keep getting up and coming at the problem again. It's trying one thing after another.”