Netflixed: The Epic Battle for America's Eyeballs

Gina Keating is a gifted story teller who writes with a quick pace, and a succinct style, yet is unfailing in her ability to breath life into all of her characters. I have a particular interest in this subject as I fell in love with Netflix (or really their DVD recommendation engine) back in the day -- I suddenly was watching great movie after great movie, something Blockbuster didn't provide. And I'm still a fan as we stream movies and watch TV shows, in order, at our leisure, commercial free. But I think I would have enjoyed this book even if I had no knowledge of the subject matter beforehand, such is Keating's gift. I look forward to her next book.The story begins as Randolph and Hastings are carpooling into Silicon Valley deciding that they want to "be the Amazon of something". They recognized that DVDs would displace VHS tapes and Hastings mails one to himself (actually, he mailed a CD, DVDs were hard to find at the time) and found it to be playable. But they still weren't sure about the business model (a-la-cart rentals, sales?). The true genius behind Netflix was how they used the market place as a test lab, trying different combinations in different locations, dissecting the customer data, before settling on the monthly subscription/online queue. The other genius was the recommendation engine, something that the internet allowed them to implement. They discovered that happy customers didn't necessarily have to see the latest release (which were more expensive) and tweaked the online recommendations for this purpose.But the part of the book I found the most intriguing was the war with Blockbuster, and in particular the role that Carl Icahn, the activist investor played. Carl bought a 10% stake in Blockbuster and got himself elected to the board, and eventually forced out current CEO Antioco (who recognized the Netflix threat) and put in Keyes (whose lack of understanding of technology was epic!). Keyes never grasped the technological innovation that would allow movie renters to not physically enter a store. But more so, he was famously immutable to the cries of others who were aware. At one point he enthused that customers would one day load their movie rentals onto thumb drives!! A Keyes quote taken from the book: "imagine in the future the ability to have the entire library captured on a kiosk!". He virtually killed Antioco's Blockbusters Online initiative (which by Netflix's own assessment was "checkmate" with its return/pickup-at-stores feature), and diverted the money instead into additional merchandising for the stores under the belief that he could loss-leader the movie rental and make up the profits with high margin items like big gulps and pizzas! (An interesting side note was that when Antioco and his team were forced out, they all sold their Blockbuster shares and bought Netflix stock, so certain were they that Keyes would fail.) Carl's myopic pursuit of short term profits drove customers into the arms of Netflix and the rest is history.I was disappointed that the story ended with the price hike/Quikster fiasco of last summer. I wished for more insight into the streaming business than she provided, and she also only touches briefly on the international launches into Canada and Latin America/Caribbean (and now Europe). Maybe she'll write a sequel, especially now that Carl Icahn just announced that he has purchased a 10% stake in Netflix with plans to push them toward being acquired! This story may need a second edition!This is a great David-vs-Goliath story that happened in our time, and with something so simple as different strategies for movie rental. The story provides wonderful insights into the trials and tribulations of a start-up, and the eventual survival-of-the-fittest that exemplifies the capitalist free markets!

Gina Keating's 'Netflixed' is more than just a tale about the rise of Netflix. It's a fascinating - dare say 'gripping' - narrative of the no-holds-barred, street alley fight between Netflix and Blockbuster for America's eyeballs.We all collectively joke today about Blockbuster's dead meat adherence to its bricks and mortars roots while the country hurtled inexorably towards a broadband future. Keating reminds us that it almost didn't turn out that way. There was a period in time in which Blockbuster - under the stewardship of CEO John Antioco & SVP/GM Shane Evangelist (has there ever been a better name for a corporate leader?) - conceived and masterfully executed Blockbuster Online, an online/offline play which terrified Netflix executives to their bones. Keating's book is as much Antioco & Evangelist's story as it is Reed Hasting's.For the record, it was Carl Icahn and Jim Keyes that ultimately destroyed the promise of Blockbuster Online, not Netflix. Keating makes a very compelling case on that account. Consider it death by one's own hand.On the Netflix side, it's less Hasting's tale than it is Mark Randolph's, the founder and spiritual touchstone of Netflix. Keating's stories from early days of Netflix have the feel of a joyous, swashbuckling band of pirates. The author does tip her hat to Hastings though -- the man's combination of entrepreneurial chops, serious smarts, ability to be the secret whisperer to the financial markets and sheer will of personality are a fearsome combination in one man. This is no accidental success story.In her Acknowledgements, Keating relates that "[t]hese executives humbled me with candid self-assessment, the likes of which I had rarely heard as a longtime journalist covering the financial, political, and legal realms. Simply being allowed to share their thoughts and emotional journey at such close range made this project highly satisfying." Her talent is that she took these oral histories and assembled them into this wonderful, rollicking narrative. I highly recommend you check it out.

As an avid movie fan and long time customer of Blockbuster I switched to Netflix a few years ago as I loved the no late fees concept. The library from Netflix of course was huge so that was a plus as well. This book helps to explain the disruption in the market for movie fans and how slow Blockbuster was to respond. Reminds me a lot about the ongoing battle with Amazon and Barnes and Noble (Barnes and Noble responded a little better).Gina Keating does a good job balancing the two sides and taking the reader into both houses to understand the thought process for Blockbuster and Netflix. I enjoyed reading about Johnny Antioco from Blockbuster as he so badly wanted to implement certain ideas, but at times was misguided.Anyone who is a fan of corporate strategy will enjoy this read as Netflix enjoyed having large amounts of cash and low overhead compared to Blockbuster with a serious cash burn and high overhead. In addition Blockbuster had franchisees not on the same page with overall strategy. Netflix also had a personal credo of "great brands had to connect with customers on a personal level". If used wisely and monitored this is where social media helps certain companies.Good book on how to get after the more established companies and disrupt "business as usual". Anyone starting a business and challenging mature companies and markets needs to read and understand this book. Well written and an interesting read for sure.

It was a good tale of how a streaming behemoth was created. My only criticism was that it wrapped up ever so quickly. The trials and tribulations of the battle between Netflix and Blockbuster (which received a very heavy and interesting background story) seemed to have petered out with one simple line - blockbuster went bankrupt. My only criticism. Book was well researched and enjoyed in less than a week.

I devoured this well researched storyI learned about what happened to Blockbuster but never understood back when it occurredThe last stage of Netflix ( the movie making) was done in large brush strokes that lacked the fascinating insightsNot a great way to end such an outstanding effort

Wheres the scandal? the betrayal? the drama. Its not very often I get to say I love the shows, more then the book. A nice read if your in to business books and who knows you may get some ideas to apply to your own business.

Brilliant clear outstanding analysis of Netflix’s rise to the top

As vezes fala mais da Blockbuster do que da Netflix, mas, no geral, um bom livro e de rápida leitura