Netflix, Inc.

The founding myth of Netflix is that Reed Hastings was inspired after paying a $40 late fee to Blockbuster for an overdue copy of Apollo 13. Hastings has since admitted this story was invented for marketing purposes — the real origin was Marc Randolph suggesting that DVDs could be rented by mail. Both versions are entertaining. One is true.

In 2000, Netflix offered to sell itself to Blockbuster for $50 million. Blockbuster's CEO laughed them out of the room. At the time, Netflix had 300,000 subscribers and was losing money. Blockbuster had 60 million customers. In 2010, Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy. Netflix was worth $13 billion.

Netflix launched its streaming service in January 2007, initially as a free add-on for DVD subscribers. The company had 1,000 titles available. By 2023, it had over 17,000. The streaming launch deliberately cannabilised its own DVD business.

Netflix spent $100 million producing two seasons of House of Cards before a single episode had aired, without even a pilot. It was the largest single content bet in television history at the time. The show won three Emmy Awards. The era of streaming-native prestige television had begun.

In April 2022, Netflix reported its first subscriber loss in over a decade — down 200,000 users. The stock fell 35% in a day, losing $50 billion in market value. Within 18 months, Netflix had introduced an ad-supported tier, cracked down on password sharing, and added 30 million new subscribers.