High Point, N.C. – The all-star lineup of global mentors this semester continued with High Point University’s Entrepreneur in Residence and Netflix Co-Founder Marc Randolph on Feb. 19-20. During his time on campus, Randolph mentored and connected with students in a variety of ways.

Randolph participated in a Q&A session on Feb. 19 at HPU’s Innovation Summit led by Dr. Angela Bauer, senior vice president of academic affairs. He also spoke with business students during another Q&A session on business strategies.

Innovators regularly meet one-on-one with students as well, and Randolph met with student Annie Bonelli, a social media influencer with nearly 1 million followers who has been featured in several news articles. She says this opportunity was an honor and that HPU has prepared her to have conversations with successful business leaders like Randolph.

“He shared with me a lot of wisdom and insight when it came to direction and being successful,” said Bonelli, a freshman sales major from Niantic, Connecticut. “He placed a lot of emphasis on envisioning where you want to be down the road. As he said, ‘If you don’t know where you want to go, you probably won’t get there.’ Connecting with him was a huge opportunity, and it is just one of the many opportunities High Point University has given me in my short time being here.”

Randolph ended the day with a special Entrepreneurship Pitch Session in HPU’s Entrepreneurship Center, where students pitched their business ventures to him and gained valuable feedback to move forward in their project.

“To sum up everything we’ve talked about, and this is just my belief, ideas really don’t count for anything,” said Randolph. “Once you get an idea, your initial instinct should be: How can I prove that it’s good or bad? Immediately shift to: What can I do to collide this with a real customer?”

Randolph congratulated Addison Antico, a graduate student from Sherborn, Massachusetts, in HPU’s Communication and Business Leadership program, and Jordan Ruben, a Class of 2022 HPU strategic communication graduate from Wayland, Massachusetts, for their continuing efforts to survey parents and modify their idea for an all-in-one baby formula feeding bottle, named a Shimi.

“Last year, he gave us good advice to go out and see if parents really want to do this, and that’s what we did,” said Antico. “It was great to hear today that we really came full circle.”

Ruben added, “We thought about his advice all year, so we were excited to show our progress. We’re thrilled with what he had to say.”

“The ones who got the most positive feedback were once the ones who were getting the critiques,” said Kathryn Elliott, an assistant professor of entrepreneurship and director of the HPU Entrepreneurship Program. “They learn so much from his advice, and it reinforces the things they are learning here so they are better able to go forward with their ideas because they are hearing it from someone who has been such a great success.” 

Randolph has founded or co-founded several successful startups and mentored many early-stage entrepreneurs, including many HPU students, over the years. He is one of dozens of industry titans attracted to HPU’s campus to mentor students. To see a full list, visit www.highpoint.edu/innovators.