A recent @NonGaap tweet about changing one’s mind reminded me of something Reed Hastings told me a decade+ ago

(1/x)

I thought about Netflix obsessively back then and on one of our visits I asked him a question about the creation of original content

I observed that Netflix had superior data from consumers and that it stood to reason that the company might be able to accurately deduce the type of content that would be popular with subscribers

I asked Reed...given all of its superior subscriber data (with more coming all the time) would Netflix ever consider creating original content for its users?

Without hesitation Reed said - we’ll never make content at Netflix. He said there was too much content already produced so there would always be content for a value buyer like Netflix

He went on to say that he didn’t know what Netflix would be steaming in the future since they didn’t known in advance what kind of content would be undervalued in the marketplace

This answer actually pleased me as I was worried about the company going down the slippery slope of creating expensive content and hoping it caught fire with audiences

I had already witnessed the value destructive pursuit of the movie business with other investments

Well sometime between that meeting and 2013 Reed clearly changed his mind and started skating - very fast - to where the puck was going to be once again

It can be hard to change one’s mind and pull the entire organization along for the ride. I imagine for Reed this was ultimately a very easy decision

As one of my friends asks & answers..what do you do when you’re wrong, I change my mind

(fin)