Hockey Stick Growth Charts
Netflix: Stage-By-Stage: How They Did It
Tinkering/Pre-Start (Pre-1997)
- Reed Hastings comes up with basic subscription/membership concept after receiving a late fee at Blockbuster
- Hastings and Marc Randolph launch NetFlix.com, Inc. in August of 1997 in Scotts Valley, California
- Hastings supplies startup cash ($2.5 million) from selling in first company, Pure Software
The Blade Years (1997-2000)
- April 14, 1998: Opens for business; 30 employees, less than 1,000 DVD titles for rent
- First business model operates like Blockbuster: rental by mail, but not subscription-based
- September 1998: Company sells 10,000 copies of Bill Clinton’s grand jury testimony for $0.02 each; gains media coverage
- December 1998: Announces NetFlix will stop selling DVDs; directs customers to Amazon.com in exchange for publicity on Amazon’s site
- January 1999: NetFlix partners with All-Movie Guide to direct movie title searches to NetFlix’s website
- July 1999: $30 million investment from Group Arnault
- September 23, 1999: Launches subscription service
The Growth Inflection Point (2000)
- Year 4 growth inflection point: $41,237,464 revenue (grew 607 percent from 1999)
- NetFlix introduces CineMatch recommendation tool that compares rental patterns among customers and aligns tastes
- December 2000: NetFlix runs first television ads
Surging Growth (2001-2003)
- 2001: NetFlix loses $21.1 million for the year, even with a doubled monthly subscription rate, following 9/11/2001
- 2001: Signs contract with Best Buy that gives NetFlix access to Best Buy locations
- February 2002: NetFlix attains 500,000 subscribers
- 2002: Becomes Netflix, Inc. (changes the ‘F’ to ‘f’)
- May 29, 2002: IPO; Netflix sells 5.5 million shares of common stock for $15/share
The Hockey Stick Principles: The 4 Key Stages to Entrepreneurial Success
For anyone toying with the idea of founding their own company or launching a new product, this accessible guide will teach you what to expect when you first start out—from the tinkering phase, to the blade years, the crucial growth inflection point, and onward to surging growth.
