A little Netflix History as we head into 2021: Back when Blockbuster launched Total Access (their "by mail AND in-store" DVD rental offering), they used a code on the outside of their DVD mailers that reflected what number of subscriber you were. According to Mario Cibelli someone at Marathon Equity Partners noticed it and told Reed Hastings about it. At Netflix, Erich Ziegler and Paul Kirincich did some modeling which told us their growth rate and where they were headed in addition to their current subscriber count. When cross-referenced with other public data, including when Blockbuster debt covenants were going to come due, it allowed us to have insights as to when Blockbuster would have to do things like raising prices. It also allowed us to know when they would go bankrupt long before anyone else did. And it was remarkably accurate. #netflix #blockbuster #dvd #DVDWars #businessintelligence #reverseengineering #netflixhistory …see more