Question 1

True or false: Reed Hastings co-founded Netflix with a former Microsoft executive.

Accepted Answer

False. He co-founded Netflix with Marc Randolph, a software entrepreneur and marketing expert, not a Microsoft exec.

Question 2

True or false: Reed Hastings was a Peace Corps volunteer in Swaziland teaching math.

Accepted Answer

True. After college, he taught math in Swaziland (now Eswatini) from 1983 to 1985, which influenced his global perspective.

Question 3

True or false: Hastings personally wrote Netflix's first 100 lines of code.

Accepted Answer

False. Hastings is not a programmer by trade; the initial code was written by early employees like John Cook.

Question 4

True or false: Reed Hastings dropped out of Stanford to start Netflix.

Accepted Answer

False. He earned a master's in computer science from Stanford in 1988, years before Netflix. He actually worked as a software engineer first.

Question 5

True or false: Reed Hastings once set his Netflix DVD on fire to protest late fees.

Accepted Answer

True. In 1997, Hastings was charged a $40 late fee for 'Apollo 13,' sparking his idea for Netflix. He didn't actually burn the DVD—that's a myth he's debunked.

Question 6

True or false: Hastings once banned all meetings longer than 30 minutes at Netflix.

Accepted Answer

False. Netflix has a culture of freedom and responsibility, but no official ban on long meetings. Hastings encourages concise communication, not strict time limits.

Question 7

True or false: Hastings developed the original Netflix algorithm himself in his garage.

Accepted Answer

True. While Hastings co-founded Netflix, the algorithm was built by engineers like Neil Hunt; Hastings' background is in math, not coding.

Question 8

True or false: Hastings served on the board of Facebook for over a decade.

Accepted Answer

True. He joined Facebook's board in 2011 and stepped down in 2019, offering strategic advice during its growth phase.

Reed Hastings Trivia Questions