The event that started Netflix's media revolution

30 June 2015 | MOF Team

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1 minute

Sometimes the annoying everyday inconveniences can lead to the most extraordinary outcomes. If you're searching for examples, look no further than Netflix.

Netflix's eureka moment

Netflix In the late nineties Wilmot Reed Hastings Junior returned the movie ‘Apollo 13’ to his local video rental store and was handed a whopping $40 fine for its late arrival.

Hastings found the experience deeply frustrating and embarrassing, wondering why late-fees existed in the first place, and why his membership of the movie store was unlike his membership of the gym, which he could frequent as much or as little as he liked.

Taking the plunge

Inspired by this thought and enabled by his background in Computer Science, Hastings started what would become known as Netflix, a provider of on-demand Internet streaming media available to viewers in North and South America, the Caribbean, and parts of Europe.

What originated out of frustration, has now more than 50 million subscribers and operates in a total of 41 counties around the world.