After graduating college, Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph received a ‘handwritten list of instructions’ from his father…
- Do at least 10% more than you are asked.
- Never, ever, to anybody present as fact opinions on things you don’t know. Take great care and discipline.
- Be courteous and considerate always — up and down.
- Don’t knock, don’t complain — stick to constructive, serious criticism.
- Don’t be afraid to make decisions when you have the facts on which to make them.
- Quantify where possible.
- Be open-minded but skeptical.
- Be prompt.
Randolph hung the original copy next to his bathroom mirror and passed the advice down to his children.
…and then there was Number 9. He also added one more rule that he later wrote in a separate blog post: “If you apprentice yourself to the smartest people who will take you seriously, you will learn at every step.”
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.”
-Theodore Roosevelt
“Don’t adapt to the energy in the room. Influence the energy in the room.”
-Unknown
“There is no shortage of remarkable ideas, what’s missing is the will to execute them.”
-Seth Godin