What this lesson is about
Netflix started by mailing DVDs to your house in the 1990s. The decision to bet on streaming years before it was obviously the future is a genuine business turning-point story.
Part 1 of 2
Netflix's, origin, story, shows, how, companies, can, reinvent, themselves., Founded, in, 1997, as, a, DVD-by-mail, rental, service,, Netflix, didn’t, start, streaming, until, 2007., That, was, about, a, decade, later., At, first,, streaming, was, just, an, addition, to, the, profitable, DVD, business,, not, a, full, replacement., They, bet, big, on, streaming, technology,, infrastructure,, and, eventually, creating, original, content., This, was, years, before, streaming, clearly, became, the, future, of, video., It, was, a, real, strategic, risk,, not, a, sure, thing,, taken, while, the, DVD, business, was, still, thriving.
Later,, Netflix, began, producing, its, own, original, content, instead, of, just, licensing, shows, and, movies, from, other, studios., This, change, tackled, a, genuine, vulnerability:, relying, on, licensing, deals, that, competitors, could, access, too., Those, deals, could, get, much, more, expensive, or, vanish, altogether, if, a, studio, decided, to, pull, its, content.
Quick check
How did Netflix originally operate when it was founded in the late 1990s?
Netflix's original business, founded in 1997, was mailing physical DVDs to subscribers - streaming came significantly later.
Part 2 of 2
Quick check
Roughly when did Netflix launch its streaming service?
Netflix launched streaming in 2007, roughly a decade after its DVD-by-mail founding, initially as an addition to the existing DVD business rather than a full replacement.
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