Marc Randolph

Marc Randolph is a veteran Silicon Valley entrepreneur, advisor, and investor best known as the co-founder and first CEO of Netflix. Over a four-decade career, he has founded or co-founded multiple startups, mentored hundreds of early-stage entrepreneurs, and invested in numerous tech ventures.

He brings practical insight into innovation, entrepreneurship, and building ideas into lasting companies, drawing directly from his experience launching and growing Netflix and other ventures. Marc Randolph is available to be booked for corporate and private events. Contact the Mollie Plotkin Group today to inquire about Marc Randolph’s fees.

Want to book Marc Randolph for an event?

Contact the Mollie Plotkin Group at 215-995-0905 to book Marc Randolph for a keynote speech, corporate event, leadership program, workshop, fireside chat, virtual appearance, or other private or professional event.

Our team will help confirm Marc Randolph’s availability, speaking fee, travel requirements, and fit for your audience. To start the booking process, please share your event date, location, audience size, event format, and the type of presentation you are looking for.

The Mollie Plotkin Group is a full-service keynote speaker agency and entertainment bureau that helps organizations secure keynote speakers, entertainers, athletes, celebrities, and thought leaders for corporate meetings, conferences, fundraisers, and special events.

Building Netflix and Beyond

Marc Randolph co-founded Netflix and served as its first CEO, helping lay the foundation for a company that has grown to more than 275 million subscribers and reshaped how audiences experience media. His work at Netflix reflects a hands-on approach to testing ideas, adapting quickly, and building scalable business models.

Across a career spanning four decades, Marc has founded or co-founded six other successful startups. He has also worked closely with hundreds of early-stage entrepreneurs and invested in dozens of technology ventures, gaining a broad perspective on both success and failure in business.

Author, Mentor, and Investor

Marc is the author of the internationally best-selling memoir That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and The Amazing Life of an Idea, which shares the inside story of Netflix’s early days. He is also the host of the top-10 Apple podcast That Will Never Work, where he provides direct mentoring to entrepreneurs.

In addition, Marc serves as a judge and investor on Entrepreneur Magazine’s Elevator Pitch web series. He most recently co-founded Looker Data Sciences, an analytics software company acquired by Google in 2019 for $2.6 billion, further demonstrating his continued impact in the tech and startup ecosystem.

To hire Marc Randolph for an event, contact the Mollie Plotkin Group with the proposed event date, location, audience size, event format and program goals. Marc Randolph is available for corporate events, conferences, leadership meetings, private events, workshops, fireside chats and virtual programs.

After receiving your request, a Mollie Plotkin Group booking agent will review Marc Randolph’s availability, discuss the event details and get back to you within 48 hours with next steps for securing Marc Randolph for your program.

The cost to book Marc Randolph depends on the event date, location, format, audience size and scope of the appearance. Marc Randolph’s speaking fee ranges from $75,000 to $100,000. Speaking fees may vary for keynote speeches, workshops, fireside chats, private events, corporate meetings and virtual programs.

For the most accurate Marc Randolph booking fee, contact the Mollie Plotkin Group with your event details. Our team will help confirm availability, pricing and the best format for your event.

Marc Randolph gives audiences an honest look at how ideas are built, tested, challenged, and refined under pressure. Drawing from the early years of Netflix, his broader career as a serial entrepreneur, and his work on leadership and culture, he shares practical lessons on persistence, optimism, focus, analytics, testing, and the courage to rethink how organizations operate.

Common keynote themes include: entrepreneurship, innovation, persistence, optimism, leadership, company culture, analytics and testing, focus, trust, and overcoming adversity.

That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea

An unlikely startup story that shows how persistence, optimism, and disciplined decision making can turn a bad idea into a breakthrough.

In this keynote, Marc Randolph tells the story of how a small group with no money and an unpromising idea built the company that eventually took down Blockbuster. Through the dramatic ups and downs of Netflix’s early years, he shows how innovation grows through testing, focus, and the willingness to keep going when the odds look terrible. The result is a talk that is equal parts inspiration, startup story, and practical advice.

• How to keep moving when an idea looks uncertain or unlikely to succeed
• Why analytics and testing matter when building something new
• How focus and optimism help teams navigate adversity

Ideal for audiences looking for a grounded, high energy talk on entrepreneurship, innovation, and building momentum through setbacks.

Meet Me at the Top: Trusting People, Building Culture, and Having the Courage to Walk Away

A candid look at how hard lessons, costly mistakes, and trust shaped a culture built on judgment rather than control.

Marc takes audiences inside the moments when traditional management approaches failed and forced him to rethink how to run a company. Using hard won stories from Netflix and his 40 year career as a serial entrepreneur, he explains how trust, judgment, and letting go became central to building a strong culture. He also gives audiences practical ways to understand why these principles work and how to apply them inside their own organizations.

• What leaders learn when control stops working
• How trust and judgment can become the foundation of company culture
• Why courage is required to walk away from outdated management habits

Ideal for leaders, managers, and teams focused on culture, leadership, trust, and organizational performance.

Fireside Chat with Marc Randolph

An interactive conversation on entrepreneurship, leadership, innovation, and the lessons behind Marc Randolph’s work.

In this conversational format, Marc addresses questions on topics including the birth of Netflix, entrepreneurship, innovation, his bestselling book That Will Never Work, leadership, company culture, tech ventures, and the value of persistence and optimism in business. The discussion can also explore his successes and failures at Netflix and other companies, his podcast, environmental advocacy, and balance. This format gives event organizers flexibility while keeping the conversation closely tied to the audience’s interests.

• Lessons from building Netflix in its earliest stages
• Reflections on leadership, culture, and startup decision making
• Insights from successes, failures, and life beyond one company

Ideal for audiences that want a more flexible, conversational format with room for moderation and live questions.

Closing Takeaway

Marc Randolph leaves audiences with a clear message: big outcomes often begin with uncertain ideas, difficult setbacks, and repeated mistakes, but persistence, optimism, trust, testing, and focus can help turn pressure into progress.