Every startup should try to emulate the Netflix culture

Wow.  I’ve watched this presentation several times now and each time I walk away even more inspired.  I wish I had started my company with this deck in my hand.  Truly inspiring and a must read for any entrepreneur that plans on having employees.

Thanks to @Tomerific for passing this to me…

13 Comments

  1. Kevin Vogelsang on September 3, 2009 at 6:27 pm

    This is great stuff. But it's also a lot. Some would say that what defines a culture needs to be simple. But this isn't necessarily true. It just needs to be lived. I think what the length of this document shows is that NetFlix focuses on culture and living it in everything they do. From this focus, they've articulated a model that really delivers to high performers.
    Here's another interesting thought: This deck is the antithesis of my experience with school. A lot of solutions this deck offers are solutions to problems found in school. And if certain educational institutions implemented some of these concepts in the appropriate context, education would be delivered much more effectively.



  2. celiadyer on September 4, 2009 at 6:25 am

    Jeff, that is a well-thought through set of corporate culture principles set by Netflix leadership. I have a new level of respect for that organization. Thanks so much for posting this.



  3. Jeff Hilimire on September 5, 2009 at 5:31 am

    Me too. I've never thought about Netflix being a particularly innovative company, but sounds like they're on to something here. And I love that this went public.



  4. Jeff Hilimire on September 5, 2009 at 5:32 am

    Interesting point about schools. I completely agree.

    I think the trick here is having strong leadership to help this type of culture work. You can't have anyone at the top with political motives or trust-issues. That's going to be the hardest part for any company trying to make this work.



  5. cubanx on September 5, 2009 at 5:58 am

    Netflix is very innovative. They were the one of the first ones to figure out how to use the whole social ranking of stuff.

    I can't remember the name of it, but it's where movies that are suggested to you are chosen because other people that like movies you like, also liked them.

    They were one of the first to use Ajax to populate the movie information when you search.

    They also sponsor a code event every once in a while where they “crowd source” the development of their movie algorithm. They basically do a contest where you try to make a better Netflix movie suggester: https://www.netflixprize.com/

    They do some cool stuff over there, no doubt :)



  6. cubanx on September 5, 2009 at 6:03 am

    Oh, and let's not forget the business side :)

    They created an entire movie rental business when no one thought Blockbuster's domination could be broken.

    They started as a pay per movie serviced, realized that wouldn't scale well, COMPLETELY changed their business model to “all you can watch” and soared.

    Now Blockbuster reacts to them, and they proved yet another place where an internet company can compete with a “brick and mortar” business.



  7. dnwill10 on September 5, 2009 at 7:44 am

    My personal opinion is that this is way too long to be truly functional. The best culture document that I like to reflect is from MindSpring https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MindSpring. BLiNQ has also created our own mission statement, core values and business philosophy which are reflected publicly on our Facebook and LinkedIn pages. These were developed by our management and employees and have really helped in company and individual decision making. https://www.linkedin.com/groupAnswers?viewQuesti



  8. Jeff Hilimire on September 5, 2009 at 12:31 pm

    Me too. I've never thought about Netflix being a particularly innovative company, but sounds like they're on to something here. And I love that this went public.



  9. Jeff Hilimire on September 5, 2009 at 12:32 pm

    Interesting point about schools. I completely agree.

    I think the trick here is having strong leadership to help this type of culture work. You can't have anyone at the top with political motives or trust-issues. That's going to be the hardest part for any company trying to make this work.



  10. cubanx on September 5, 2009 at 12:58 pm

    Netflix is very innovative. They were the one of the first ones to figure out how to use the whole social ranking of stuff.

    I can't remember the name of it, but it's where movies that are suggested to you are chosen because other people that like movies you like, also liked them.

    They were one of the first to use Ajax to populate the movie information when you search.

    They also sponsor a code event every once in a while where they “crowd source” the development of their movie algorithm. They basically do a contest where you try to make a better Netflix movie suggester: https://www.netflixprize.com/

    They do some cool stuff over there, no doubt :)



  11. cubanx on September 5, 2009 at 1:03 pm

    Oh, and let's not forget the business side :)

    They created an entire movie rental business when no one thought Blockbuster's domination could be broken.

    They started as a pay per movie service, realized that wouldn't scale well, COMPLETELY changed their business model to “all you can watch” and soared.

    Now Blockbuster reacts to them, and they proved yet another place where an internet company can compete with a “brick and mortar” business.



  12. dnwill10 on September 5, 2009 at 2:44 pm

    My personal opinion is that the NetFlix core values presentation is way too long to be truly functional. The best company culture document that I like to reflect on is from MindSpring https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MindSpring. At BLiNQ we have also created own mission, core values and business philosophy which are reflected publicly on our Facebook and LinkedIn pages. These are reviewed weekly at our company meetings to not lose focus on their importance. And, these were developed by our management and employees and have really helped in shaping/improving company and individual decision making. https://www.linkedin.com/groupAnswers?viewQuesti



  13. So I wasn’t able to go to SXSW… on March 13, 2011 at 8:12 pm

    […] even more badass and it gets me all revved up.  If you read my blog you know that things like culture and leadership are huge for […]



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