Netflix CEO Reed Hastings’ secret to success

Reed Hastings, Netflix co-founder and CEO,

Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, known for his inventive leadership style, is stepping down as CEO, ending a 25-year stint during which the company grew into a global force for entertainment and technology.

Founded as a DVD-by-mail service in 1997, Netflix has today grown into a company worth over $140 billion, with 230 million subscribers globally.

What contributed to Netflix's big success? Hastings revealed it in 2017 in the Masters of Scale podcast, hosted by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman.

He looked at something called "first principle thinking", which is essentially breaking down a problem to its fundamentals and asking strong questions.

Hastings hired such critical thinkers for Netflix

"We ask people to do what you would think is best for the company," the Netflix CEO said. "We don't give them any more guideline than that."

"It frustrates some people. They are probably not a good match for Netflix," Hastings added.

Netflix is known to have a culture that defies expectation and tradition. The company's innovative practices were detailed in the 2020 book No Rules Rules, which Hastings wrote along with author Erin Meyer.

"At Netflix, you don’t try to please your boss, you practice radical candour instead," a chunk from the book's summary read. "At Netflix, employees never need approval, and the company always pays top of market."

In the book, Hastings offered readers the unknown stories of his career and included hundreds of interviews with Netflix's present and former employees.  No Rules No Rules was New York Times bestseller, praised by business leaders and senior government officials alike.

Netflix had a tough 2022 due to reduced entertainment spending and competition from rivals like Disney. But it continues to enjoy Wall Street's confidence, with stock prices up nearly 50 percent in last six months, news agency AFP reported.

(With inputs from AFP)