The Most Watched Original Netflix Movies of All-Time

Had blockbuster acquired you early on....how do you think that would have changed the streaming industry?

Quick answer: you would probably be asking your partner if they wanted to "Disney and Chill".

Longer answer: For those who don't know, during a particularly bleak period in Netflix' history, when we were on the verge of going out of business, Reed Hastings and I flew to Dallas to try to convince them to buy us. We would combine forces, we would run the online business, they would run the stores, we would find all these amazing synergies, and voila! Everyone happy. The price we proposed? $50,000,000. And they laughed at us. So luckily we dodged that bullet.

But had they bought us, I have no doubt that the Netflix story would have pretty much ended there. I dont think I, Reed, or any of the rest of the team would have stuck around long. Blockbuster would invariably have fucked it up. They would have gone bankrupt anyway. And I would probably be working as a postman somewhere.

Streaming would have come along anyway, but probably a bit later. Netflix started streaming in 2007 (we launched as a DVD by mail in 1998) but we pretty much did it on our own for a dozen years before the rest of the industry caught on that this was better for consumers.

What allowed us to survive (and thrive) for those dozen years is that we came into streaming with a huge and healthy DVD business. And lots of understanding of consumer tastes.

And by the way: the company that Blockbuster could have bought for $50mil, now has a market cap of $250 billion. I'm just sayin!