How Netflix Reinvented HR with Patty McCord

Patty McCord was the Chief Talent Officer at Netflix from its beginnings in 1997 until 2012, post-IPO. Her work has largely influenced the culture of freedom and responsibility that we associate with Silicon Valley today.

While at Netflix, she wrote a 127-page deck that summarized key points about the then-startup, now-giant’s culture. Some of the ideas might seem popular today but were very novel back then, including unlimited vacations, no annual performance review, and a travel and expense policy that can be summarized in 5 words: “Act in Netflix’s best interest”.

The Netflix Culture Deck has amassed over 5 million views on the web. It has been called “one of the most important documents ever to come out of Silicon Valley” by Sheryl Sandberg.

But when Patty wrote the PowerPoint deck with Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and some colleagues, she had no idea that the document would go viral and serve as a bible for company culture in many startups today.

In this episode, we’ve invited Patty to tell us about how to build a thriving company culture that empowers your talent.

Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Deezer & Google Podcast.