The concept for Netflix arose during the very early days of DVDs. Only about 2% of US households had DVD players, but we saw that if the market grew to about 20% of households, we could have a really successful company. (Eventually more than 95% of households would come to own DVD players.)

Now from the very beginning of Netflix––and the reason the company was named Netflix and not DVD by Mail––there was our belief that the marketplace for digital content would move to streaming. The idea that this content wouldn’t need to be couriered, but instead would travel over the air. And that’s just where media went. In our Startup Story featuring Reed, you’ll see it certainly wasn’t a cakewalk when it came time to battle the industry giant Blockbuster Video in the emerging battle for digital supremacy.