Success can be defined in multiple ways—whether it’s achieving wealth, gaining power or earning fame and respect. If it were as simple as checking off one task each day, we’d all be living the high life, sailing the Mediterranean on private yachts like Jay Z and Beyonce. However, as Marc Randolph, co-founder of Netflix, points out, hard work alone doesn’t make a company a household name. So, what can you do to climb the ladder of success?
In a podcast episode of The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett earlier this month, Randolph stated that successful CEOs and entrepreneurs frequently succeed because they are equipped with a single skill: the capacity to prioritise which problems require solutions first.
“I think hard work leading to success is a myth,” he declared.
“If I can be really smart about which problems I choose to focus on, [that] will make the difference. I don’t have to get everything right, because most things don’t make a difference. Some things do.”
Randolph said that in his desperation to ensure that everything was flawless before a client saw it, he used to “argue over every word of copy” and every picture on consumer-facing products at Netflix.
Over time, he came to the conclusion that client responses had nothing to do with how polished a new concept was, and that his objective should have been to obtain as much real-world input as possible on incomplete, defective testing.
If it had any glimmer of being a good concept, no matter how horrible the test was, it showed through, according to Randolph, who adds that “Customers would immediately perk their heads up.”
The Netflix membership model, which did away with the requirement for late DVD rental fees, was one of those tests. Consumers were pleased with the easier-to-use interface, which reduced tension.
This small adjustment helped Netflix expand its clientele and reach its present $289.29 billion market valuation.
The corporation ended its 25-year tradition of sending members DVDs only last year. This occurred sixteen years after it progressively began to concentrate on online video streaming.
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