Former Blockbuster.com president Shellye Archambeau describes her CEO's reaction when she presented Reed Hastings's partnership proposal in 1999.
Insight
Archambeau: Sales is the best first job regardless of career goals
“I tell people to this day, I think the best first job, I don't care what you want to do in life, it's a sales job. Best job. Because you learn how to ask for what you need. You ask for the order, and you learn how to be resilient, and that a no is not the end …”
Insight
Archambeau: Minorities hold an edge in international corporate assignments
“I tell people all the time, women, minorities, go do an international assignment. You will actually have a edge above people who have not been minorities and experienced being minorities in a new culture.”
Insight
Archambeau: Leading struggling startups for top VCs maximizes career upside
“And the reason I picked that strategy is I said, alright, if it doesn't work, nobody thought it was going to work anyway. But, at least I've had a top tier VC behind me, they've had a chance to see what I can do and who I am, and therefore hopefully get anothe…”
Assertion Supported
Archambault: Blockbuster rejected a Netflix merger, assuming it could buy them later
“Reed came out to Blockbuster, and pitched, let's take Blockbuster.com, the brand, let's take Netflix, the technology, put them together, and spit it out, and have Blockbuster.com, Inc. And I'll never forget, my boss, the CEO at the time of Blockbuster, he just…”
Assertion Supported
Archambeau: Reed Hastings pitched combining Blockbuster's brand with Netflix's technology
“Reed came out to Blockbuster and pitched, let's take Blockbuster.com, the brand, let's take Netflix, the technology, put them together, and spit it out, and have Blockbuster.com, Inc.”
Insight
Archambeau: Board members know less about your company than you do
“It's so much easier for CEOs, especially when you're newer CEOs, to believe that your investors and your board members know more than you do. They do know more than you do. But they typically don't know more about your company, your market, your customers, you…”