Netflix Co-Founder Mentors HPU Students
Marc Randolph discussed four ways students can successfully introduce themselves and others with impact.
HIGH POINT, N.C., Jan. 31, 2022 – High Point University frequently welcomes global leaders to campus to mentor and inspire students through the Access to Innovators program. Today, Netflix Co-Founder Marc Randolph, HPU’s Entrepreneur in Residence, returned to continue connecting with and coaching HPU students.
Randolph mentored students in a variety of ways. HPU student Abby Van Metre recorded a podcast with Randolph, a serial entrepreneur who helped build Netflix into the global streaming service it is today. Randolph also gave a campus-wide Life Skills Seminar, titled “Networking 101: How to Introduce Yourself with Impact.” He walked students through the steps to make a successful connection with an audience, one-on-one, during an interview or during a meeting.
“The art of connecting with other people is probably the most important life skill I have ever learned,” said Randolph. “If you take anything away from making successful introductions, take away these three key things: why this person should be introduced to this person, why this subject and why now.”
He shared this advice with students to impactfully introduce themselves, as well as to impactfully introduce others to build important connections:
Marc Randolph’s Four Tips to Connect:
- Prepare: Research and know enough about someone or a company that you can make personal connections. Creating a standard pitch to a company or person will not get as many responses as a personalized introduction.
- Precision: Get to the point. You want to make your introduction connections short and sweet.
- Practice: Say it out loud. You don’t want to read off paper or struggle to remember. Instead, practice your introduction enough that you have it memorized and it rolls off your tongue.
- Pronunciation: Little things like this matter. Know how to pronounce someone’s name.
“I want to share with you the skill of making an introduction because I know in your career as college students at the Premier Life Skills University that learning how to introduce yourselves and others is key to your education,” said Randolph.
Randolph ended his visit with a special Entrepreneurship Pitch Session in HPU’s Belk Entrepreneurship Center, where students pitched their business ventures to him and gained valuable feedback to move forward in their project.
“I am beyond thankful for his time,” said Ivana Korankyi, a second-year pharmacy student from Jamestown, North Carolina. “Marc offered an insightful perspective, and it was amazing to tap into a resource that is so knowledgeable and so exposed to the real world. I asked him questions and he asked me questions back that challenged me to learn more about my business by taking new approaches.”
Four student entrepreneurs were selected as guests for Randolph’s podcast, “That Will Never Work.” The selected students were able to discuss their business plans with him and work in HPU’s Entrepreneurship Center together.
Randolph has founded or co-founded several successful startups and mentored many early-stage entrepreneurs, including many HPU students, over the years. He is one of dozens of industry titans attracted to HPU’s campus to mentor students. To see a full list, visit www.highpoint.edu/innovators.