“Usually the best way to figure out if your crazy idea is any good is simply to try it. So that’s what we did,” Marc Randolph, Netflix’s co-founder and original CEO,
That crazy idea was to send a CD through the mail to learn whether the concept of a mail-order DVD subscription service was practical. The CD, sent by USPS in a greeting card envelope, arrived safely the next day. The proof of operating concept for Netflix was confirmed.
This week, 16 years after its reinvention as a streaming company, Netflix announced that it’s shuttering its mail-order DVDs business. But how did it go from sending that one CD to becoming the juggernaut that it is today? Let’s take a look.
“All I knew was that I wanted to start my own company and sell things on the internet. …
