I've been a netflix customer for 11 years and a couple of months. The reason I was totally blown away by Netflix for the first few years I was a member is that they were <i>constantly</i> iterating their product.<p>I'd be on their website cursing some minor UI annoyance, and next week.. it was gone. Keep in mind this was 2000/2001.. Long before it was common for folks to deploy new code every few days to production. I was so impressed at their commitment to the quality of the product that I really wanted to work for them quite badly. Only issue was that they were in Los Gatos (wherever that was.. sure didn't sound very nice.).. So I never applied. Netflix was my first employment-crush.<p>And anyways, I didn't really deserve the gig because I didn't have the vision. I kept telling myself (for like, a decade) "I'd invest in Netflix, except that'd be silly.. cause literally any day they get remotely smart Blockbuster is gonna eat their lunch. They've just got too much leverage in the space, and no way is anyone stupid enough to watch these scamps nibble away at the market that they'd eclipsed already".<p>Yeah. We know how that went.<p>To me, Netflix isn't a story of the great idea that someone came upon and ran with... The idea was kind of obvious, and most of us would've dropped it the moment we had it for fear of the installed competition. Netflix remains a story of brilliant execution, to me.<p>I dig those scamps.
Time your opportunity and Choose the right niche...<p>They came in to my view just after blockbuster had beat the local store. Going into a blockbuster was about as fun as going to get your teeth drilled but people still dragged in and out of there.<p>This article focused more on their development strategy as they progressed vs. entry and was all the better for it.
<i>"Price the product well: At $8 a month, Hasting said the streaming service is priced so that people who use it once or twice a month will still find value and come back. And those who use it once or twice a week will rave about it to friends."</i><p>This is such a powerful statement for any business.<p>Price it so that occasional use sees value and heavy use becomes fanatical supporters.<p>APPLE ARE YOU LISTENING! :P