Reed Hastings is an American entrepreneur who co-founded Netflix, a media rental service, which provides on-demand internet streaming media available to viewers in several countries all over the world. Established in 1997 as a single rental service, the web-based mail-order service is today available in nations across the globe, and a huge share of the credit for its success goes to its highly innovative co-founder Hastings who believes that taking calculated risks is the key to entrepreneurial success. Born as the son of a prominent attorney in Boston, he grew up to be a bright and adventurous young man. He studied mathematics at Bowdoin College and served in the U.S. Marine Corps. Overcome by a sense of both service and adventure, he joined the Peace Corps and travelled to Swaziland where he taught high school mathematics for two years. Returning home, he furthered his education and by the time of his graduation he knew that he would one day start his own business. His first company was Pure Software which was later merged with another business and sold off. Then he teamed up with Marc Randolph to co-found Netflix which operated on a concept novel at that time. His risk taking paid off and Netflix went on to become a highly successful venture with millions of subscribers from all over the globe