Courtesy of jdlasica
Netflix.com is a online movie rental service offering mail and streaming services. Most of us are familiar with the name as it has quickly become a household name over the past few years. I personally use it and love it along with the millions of others out there who have come to rely on the service for there movie watching needs. That’s why this week in the spotlight we take a look at entrepreneur Reed Hastings who created Netflix. We’ll look at just how he did it and highlight what lessons any upcoming entrepreneur can learn.
Summary:
Name: Reed Hastings
Age: 49
Location: CA
Claim to fame: Netflix (Online movie rental service through mail and home streaming)
Initial cost: < $1000 (estimate)
How He Did It:
Reed Hastings grew up in Massachusetts and later attended Bowdoin College where he graduated with a bachelors degree in Mathematics. Hastings went onto obtain a Masters Degree in Computer Science from Stanford University. Between the time of his two degrees, Hastings worked at Adaptive Technology where he developed debugging software. He would later leave the company in 1991 after he obtained his Master’s to start his own business called Pure Software, which sold debugging software for programmers. The company grew very fast and was later bought out by another competitor later in 1997. Hastings founded Netflix (his next start-up) in 1998 after the idea came to him thanks to some late fees he owed the local move rental store. Since it’s launch Netflix has grown rapidly through the use of its subscription base model with unlimited rentals and no late fees. The company also continues to evolve now offering online streaming rental services and integration into a variety of popular gadgets and media devices. Today Netflix has over 8 million subscribers in the United States!
Lessons Learned:
- Life experience is a great resource for any entrepreneur to draw from. (Hastings used his work and travels to gain the experience he needed to develop his start-up)
- Your location does not matter as an entrepreneur (Hastings proves once more that the product and your delivery as an entrepreneur are the only things that matter)
- A solid business model is crucial for any entrepreneur (Hastings subscription based business model was one of the keys to his success)
- Look for new ways to improve existing products and services (Hastings took the movie rental service concept and put a more modern twist on a old service)
Did you miss last weeks spotlight? Check it out here: The Entrepreneur Spotlight: Matt Mullenweg of WordPress.com
Be on the lookout for our next entrepreneur spotlight article in this ongoing series. In the meantime, be sure to leave a comment and let me know what you think about the success of this week’s entrepreneur. Also, please let me know if you have an entrepreneur you would like to see featured here in the weeks to come.
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