The year is 2006 and an avid film enthusiast checks his mailbox. Not the electronic one, but the red box outside the porch or on the ground floor of the apartment building. A DVD by mail seems like their favorite movie just arrived right in time for a long weekend. But they pause and rethink the last four times they weren’t able to enjoy it on time. Finally, the fifth parcel lands right on time and they can enjoy their characters come live on their shy LCD screens. But there’s one thing missing. The classic Tudum sound.

Fast forward to 2007, the streaming services took a jolt as masterminds like Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph got to work. Giving birth to the OTT giant Netflix as we know it today, the humble beginnings of DVD-by-mail turned into a click away on screens. In a surprising revelation, the millionaire co-founder and CEO Randolph still paid for his subscription. 

Not just Marc Randolph, but Netlfix employees too

One might wonder how Netflix creators might get to enjoy the special perks and benefits of being the founders of the streaming platform itself. Not just the wealth that accompanies it but also the premium advantage of not having to pay for the service. After all, they literally founded it. But that is not the reality. Randolph, who has $130 million in the bank, revealed how he always paid for his subscription. Adding to that fact, he recently shared on TikTok, “I still pay for my subscription 25 years later.”

Limiting the privilege of owning this platform, he even made all his employees pay for their subscriptions. He reiterated his idea behind starting the company, wanting to make users all around the world feel what it felt like to be a paying subscriber. The co-founder acknowledged people not wanting to subscribe or be able to afford it while answering a fan’s question. 

Seems like Netflix has been giving quite some thought about subscriptions and payment plans. 

Netflix and its latest crackdowns 

Netflix has been the one to keep testing their viewers’ waters. Be it their plans to bring on ad-based plans last year or the recent revamp in subscription plans, the OTT giant made sure to not miss a beat if battling their viewership issues. The recent crackdown resulted in scrapping the basic plan for its new users, and most importantly introducing multiple tiers. But that jumped the prices from $9.99 to a direct $15.49. The ad-based debate has been on for a long and so is the password-sharing option. 

The streaming service company also scrapped and imposed strict rules for the password-sharing feature that users relied on. Not only users cannot share passwords with friends but also limit it to the vicinity of their homes. 

Would you pay for your own subscription if you were the co-founder of Netflix? Let us know in the comments below.