Mr. Asad says Reed Hastings is the number 2 CEO of the world.
You might know Netflix from its marketing blitzes or subscribe to it for the latest episodes of exclusive shows like Orange is the New Black and House of Cards. While it might have faced challenges in the past, it continues to be a serious contender in the entertainment world mostly due to the corporate culture encouraged by its CEO. Reed Hastings is the entrepreneur and CEO behind Netflix.
“This is my top CEOs of the world number 2: Reed Hastings of Netflix,” said Issa Asad, Florida entrepreneur and CEO of 2 companies located across South Florida. Mr. Asad is the CEO of Q Link Wireless and Quadrant Holdings.
About Reed Hastings
Reed Hastings is a successful businessman whose previous enterprises include Pure Software, a company that provided tools for software developers, which was sold to Rational Software in 1997. As a philanthropist, Reed Hastings prefers to focus on education and served as a high school math teacher in Swaziland as a member of the Peace Corp. He has also served on the California Board of Education from 2000 to 2004, as well as serving on the board of directors for several educational organizations including the Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley. Outside of Netflix, he is currently a member of Facebook’s Board of Directors and was on Microsoft’s board of directors from 2007 to 2012.
About Netflix
Netflix is a popular subscription video rental and online streaming service that was founded in 1997, partly inspired by a late fee that Hastings had to pay while returning a movie. He thought that renting movies should be more like paying for a gym membership – it doesn’t really matter how much or how little members go to the gym when they’re all paying the same monthly rate. It’s currently best known for its exclusive productions and for being an alternative to “traditional” TV.
How Has Reed Hastings Run Netflix?
Reed Hastings’ corporate policy has been codified in a slideshow titled “Netflix Culture: Freedom and Responsibility,” which is available online. In the slideshow, he makes a distinction between the corporate culture of now-defunct companies like Enron and the corporate culture he encourages at Netflix. In his view, there is a difference between stated values and what actually goes on at corporate headquarters, as evidenced by the quality of employees who are not only retained, but also promoted within the company.
Hastings has made attracting top talent a priority, including offering a higher-than-usual compensation package to his employees and offering managers a considerable amount of flexibility when it comes to offering severance packages to employees that aren’t meeting expectations. These generous severance packages are seen as a way to open up positions for better employees. His management policy has been frequently tweaked to encourage maximum performance from employees and the slideshow compares the company to a pro sports team as opposed to a recreational athletic team.
Reed Hastings’ private goal for Netflix has been to build a company that could keep its ability to grow without losing its ability to take the occasional risk. While this has led to the occasional controversy like the backlash over an attempt to spin off the streaming service into its own company in 2011, Hastings has gone on record with his refusal to resign, siting the good performance that Netflix has had up to that point.
