Farewell, Netflix.
Moving on from a dream job.
One summer in middle school, I went to a camp called "Picture Yourself Making Movies" in which you would learn how to use a camera, lights, and editing software, and leave with a finished movie you made yourself. After that moment, I knew I needed to be in the movie industry.
Not much later, during my freshman year of high school, I was introduced to two things that would shape my entire life. The first was a copy of Macromedia Dreamweaver, and the second was getting into the broadcasting elective course. These two passions combined and I knew at that moment I wanted to work for an "Internet TV Station". At the time I didn't really know what that meant. In that era, video on the internet was more Newgrounds than Netflix.
But as we fast forward to my move across the country to the SF Bay Area, this dream began to take shape. My interview in Building A of Netflix was an absolutely surreal experience. Being there just felt right to me. I didn't get the job at that time, but I knew I'd just keep trying.
Eventually I made it in (obviously). At the time, we had just a few originals, we were in only a handful of locales, and we weren't yet global. I remember the 50M member party happened very soon before I joined, and our full time LG employee number was hovering just under 1,000 people.
It was the first time I was in a job I loved. At a company I really believed in. I remember going to my first strat and being taken aback at the passion of every single person in the room. That passion, I believe, is the real secret sauce that Netflix has. Nobody saw it as "just another job".
So now, here we are nearly eight years later. Netflix has changed a little bit. From 50M to 220M+ members, something like 10,000 employees, thousands of originals available across the world.
At what point after getting one's dream job, is it time to move on and beyond? What is the inflection point required to make sure we all keep growing?
For me, that time is now. It isn't easy, but change is rarely easy. I'll be cheering from the sidelines now, watching excitedly as Netflix continues to get better at its goal of entertaining the world.
I'll end it with my favorite phrase of Reed's:
"We suck compared to what we are going to be."
Keep moving forward,
Dan