Back

"𝗡𝗲𝘁𝗳𝗹𝗶𝘅’𝘀 $𝟰𝟬𝗠 𝗕𝗲𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿" 𝗜𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟭, 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝗳𝗹𝗶𝘅 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺. They 𝘀𝗽𝗹𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗗𝗩𝗗 𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀—raising prices by 60%. Customers 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗱. 800,000 users 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗱. Their stock 𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝟳𝟳% 𝗶𝗻 𝟰 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀. The media called it “𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝗳𝗹𝗶𝘅.” But Reed Hastings stayed stubborn. He knew: 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲. So Netflix doubled down—spending $40M on an exclusive show called 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴. At the time, 𝗻𝗼 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁. Studios laughed. Investors panicked. But Netflix bet 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮: → They knew 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗮𝘀. → They knew 𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗲-𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴. → They knew 𝗗𝗩𝗗𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝗲. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁? 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗮 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗼𝗻. Netflix’s subs skyrocketed. And Hollywood was forced to adapt. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆: Netflix’s $40M gamble did 3 things: 1. Proved streaming could beat TV 2. Made binge-watching the norm 3. Forced Disney, HBO, Apple into streaming 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗶𝗴 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: When you see the future before others, you have two choices: 1. Play it safe and fade away. 2. Bet hard and own the next era. Netflix chose #𝟮—and changed entertainment forever. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺.