Marc Randolph, co-founder and former CEO of Netflix, is joining the board of directors of textbook rental service BookRenter.com.
That’s a big score for venture-backed BookRenter, considering Randolph’s consumer ecommerce and marketing expertise built up at Netflix, one of the pioneers in the DVD rental space.
Marc Randolph founded Netflix in 1997 together with now-chief executive Reed Hastings (who also has a vested interest in the education space, by the way).
Randolph originally served as Netflix CEO before transitioning into the role of executive producer in 1999. He was responsible for all content, features, and the customer interface, and also oversaw all customer communications in addition to heading up the research and analysis arm of the company.
Since retiring from Netflix in 2002, he has been an active investor and consultant to multiple technology startups.
BookRenter launched in 2008 and allows students to rent textbooks for up to 75% off the retail price. The company, which has raised $6 million in venture capital from Storm Ventures and Adams Capital Management, currently carries over 3 million titles and serves thousands of students on over 5,000 U.S. campuses.
(Image via NYDailyNews – Dempsey / AP)
