{"id":58286,"date":"2022-01-23T09:55:28","date_gmt":"2022-01-23T13:55:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=58286"},"modified":"2022-01-24T09:10:38","modified_gmt":"2022-01-24T13:10:38","slug":"no-rules-rules-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/no-rules-rules-review\/","title":{"rendered":"No Rules Rules: Review, Background, and Reception"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Are you thinking of reading No Rules Rules<\/em>? How well was the book received by critics?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 In No Rules Rules<\/em>, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and business professor and author Erin Meyer detail how the company achieved this level of success<\/a> by implementing unconventional management practices that empower employees<\/a> and promote innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is our No Rules Rules <\/em>review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Book Overview<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We will start our No Rules Rules <\/em>review with a brief overview of the book. Starting as a DVD-by-mail service, Netflix evolved into a streaming service that now offers video on demand to over 200 million subscribers worldwide (as of October 2021)<\/a>. No Rules Rules<\/em><\/a> details the unique culture that propelled Netflix to success in a rapidly changing industry where creative innovation and agility are key.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main principles behind the Netflix culture are cultivating a highly talented staff, creating an atmosphere of radical candor, and removing controls and approvals. The book discusses the unconventional practices that are rooted in this culture, such as firing adequate employees, sharing sensitive financial data with all employees, and eliminating vacation policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the Authors<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Reed Hastings is the co-founder, chairman, and co-CEO of Netflix.<\/strong> His father was a lawyer who worked for the Nixon administration, and his mother was a debutante from a Social Register<\/a> family. Hastings\u2019s mother had an aversion to high society and raised her children to be similarly disinclined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduating from Bowdoin College, Hastings joined the Peace Corps as a volunteer teacher in Swaziland then earned an MS in Computer Science from Stanford University. In 1991, he launched his first company, Pure Software, which later merged with another company to form Pure Atria. At Pure Atria, Hastings met Marc Randolph, who would later become Netflix\u2019s co-founder. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Netflix origin story varies depending on who\u2019s telling it: Hastings says he got the idea after he was charged a $40 late fee on a VHS rental; however, Randolph says that he and Hastings had brainstorming sessions as they carpooled<\/a> to the Pure Atria office. In any case, after Pure Atria was acquired, Hastings and Randolph co-founded Netflix in 1997, with Randolph as CEO. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Randolph ceded the CEO role to Hastings in 1999 before leaving Netflix in 2003. The two remain on good terms\u2014in an interview<\/a>, Randolph says he considers Hastings to be the best entrepreneur in the world, the rare breed who\u2019s excellent at both starting and scaling companies. Randolph adds that, if the opportunity presented itself, he would go into business with Hastings again \u201cin a heartbeat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hastings owns about 1% of Netflix and has a net worth of $6.1 billion (as of November 2021)<\/a>. By many accounts, he isn\u2019t the usual rock-star billionaire CEO.<\/a> He\u2019s been described as low-key, modest, and self-effacing\u2014likely a result of his upbringing. Some credit his personality to his age and experience:<\/a> While other big tech CEOs were in their 20s or 30s when they founded their companies, Hastings was already in his 40s by the time Netflix went public in 2002. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside of Netflix, Hastings is an advocate of education reform<\/a>. He served on the California State Board of Education and is a strong supporter of charter schools. He and his wife Patty have also made a number of donations to educational institutions, including a $120 million endowment<\/a> to two historically Black colleges and the United Negro Fund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Connect With Reed Hastings:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n