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Billionaire<\/a> Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings learned an important leadership lesson in his first job out of graduate school. He was working as a programmer in a 30-person startup called Coherent Thought. At the time, Hastings was 28 years old, writing code every day and drinking lots of coffee to work through the night as he completed assignments.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMy coffee cups would pile up,\u201d he recently explained on an episode of the show In Depth With Graham Bensinger<\/a>. \u201cAnd every week or so the janitor would clean them all, and I\u2019d have 20 new cups, and the cycle would go on.\u201d<\/p>\n However, about a year into this cycle, he discovered that the janitor wasn\u2019t cleaning his mountain of coffee cups \u2014\u00a0it was actually the company\u2019s CEO, Barry Plotkin.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOne morning I came in very early to the office [at] like 4:30 [a.m.], and I went into the bathroom, and there was my CEO \u2014 and he\u2019s washing coffee cups,\u201d Hastings said. \u201cAnd I was like, \u2018Barry, are you washing my coffee cups?\u2019 And he said, \u2018Yes.\u2019 I said, \u2018Have you been doing that all year?\u2019 \u201cHe said \u2018Yes.\u2019 And I\u2019m like, \u2018Why?\u2019 And he said, \u2018Well, you do so much for us, and this is the one thing I can do for you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Hastings said the interaction made such an impression on him that later on in his career, he himself tried to \u201cconnect with people through humility\u201d by making cups of coffee for visitors to the Netflix office. Plotkin\u2019s leadership style meant that his staff would \u201cfollow him anywhere,\u201d Hastings said, even though the company eventually went bankrupt because no one was willing to buy its product.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI realized, wow, you not only have to be like this servant leader, you also have to be this strategy person,\u201d Hastings said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hastings cofounded<\/a> Netflix with Marc Randolph in 1997 after being charged<\/a> a late fee for a movie rental. Originally a DVD-by-mail rental service, Netflix launched<\/a> its website in 1998 and transitioned to a subscription model in 1999 and to streaming in 2007.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hastings stepped down<\/a> as Netflix co-CEO in 2023, moving to the role of executive chairman after 25 years at the helm. As of January, Netflix had 325 million subscribers<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n While Hastings may not have had to wash his own coffee mugs, another startup CEO evaluates job candidates based on whether they bring their cups back to the kitchen to wash them.\u00a0<\/p>\n Trent Innes, chief growth officer at hotel commerce platform SiteMinder, told The Ventures<\/em> podcast<\/a> last year that he makes it a habit to bring job seekers to the office kitchen for a beverage when they first arrive at the office. The candidate then brings the drink into the interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n When the interview ends, the real test begins. Innes looks to see if the candidate wants to bring their empty cup back to the kitchen. If they leave their cup behind and don\u2019t offer to take it back or wash it, they have failed the test \u2014 Innes does not hire them, no matter how well they did in the interview. He says the attitude he wants from new hires is \u201cwash your own coffee cup.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Billionaire<\/a> Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings learned an important leadership lesson in his first job out of graduate school. He was working as a programmer in a 30-person startup called Coherent Thought. At the time, Hastings was 28 years old, writing code every day and drinking lots of coffee to work through the night as he completed assignments.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMy coffee cups would pile up,\u201d he recently explained on an episode of the show In Depth With Graham Bensinger<\/a>. \u201cAnd every week or so the janitor would clean them all, and I\u2019d have 20 new cups, and the cycle would go on.\u201d<\/p>\n However, about a year into this cycle, he discovered that the janitor wasn\u2019t cleaning his mountain of coffee cups \u2014\u00a0it was actually the company\u2019s CEO, Barry Plotkin.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nCoffee cup test in interviews<\/h2>\n
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