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How Netflix Went From DVD Rentals to a Global Streaming Giant

Companies and Brands You Know • Beginner Investing • 6 min

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.

2 parts · a quick check after each · then the quiz

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?

Part 2 of 2

Insider, Angle:, That, vulnerability, became, very, real., The, streaming, market, has, gotten, a, lot, more, competitive, since, Netflix's, early, days., Major, media, companies, launched, their, own, platforms,, often, pulling, content, they, had, previously, licensed, to, Netflix., They, built, up, their, own, exclusive, libraries, instead., Netflix's, original-content, strategy, was, a, direct, response, to, that, risk., It, wasn’t, just, about, making, its, catalog, different.
Try, This:, Look, up, when, 2-3, of, Netflix's, major, streaming, competitors, launched, their, services., How, does, that, timeline, stack, up, against, when, Netflix, first, launched, streaming?, And, when, did, it, start, investing, heavily, in, original, content?

Quick check

Roughly when did Netflix launch its streaming service?

Quiz

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