Octopus signs inside story of Netflix by co-founder Randolph

Octopus has signed a book by Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph, telling the inside story of how the business was built and changed the way people watch film and TV.

Publishing director for narrative non-fiction, Claudia Connal, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Doug Abrams at Idea Architects via Caspian Dennis at Abner Stein. That Will Never Work: How We Took a Crazy Idea, Built Netflix and Disrupted an Industry will be published in November 2019 as a lead title in hardback.

Randolph, the media company’s first c.e.o., will recount the highs and lows from the early days taking on Blockbuster, going public and establishing Netflix’s unique business principles. The publisher said: “That Will Never Work is one of the most thrilling and inspiring business stories that has yet to be told by a founder.”

Randolph’s career as a Silicon Valley entrepreneur spans more than four decades during which he founded or co-founded more than half a dozen other successful start-ups. He is due to appear in a documentary this year called “Netflix vs. The World”.

Connal said: “Netflix has radically changed everything about how we consume TV and film. Marc has written an incredible account of what it took to create one of the world’s most successful start-ups – the pitfalls, obstacles and triumphs. Inspiring and entertaining in equal measure, readers will glean invaluable insights from a world-class entrepreneur.”

Randolph added: “I’ll give you an insider’s view of how we took a crazy idea and built it into one of the most disruptive forces in entertainment. This won’t be a book that feeds you a bunch of feel-good, inspirational-speech nonsense. I’m going to show you that what we did, anyone can do. It’s real, concrete and achievable.”