Who is blockbuster ceo

Seated at a noisy coffee shop in Los Angeles, Randolph says he never dreamed of disrupting the entertainment industry. Randolph had been involved in software companies and developed the wealth and connections he needed to pursue new ideas. The two landed on movies after their carpool talks, but nearly abandoned the idea when they calculated VHS shipping costs.

They soon, however, discovered DVDs, then a nascent technology. I wanted to be as big as a single Blockbuster store. Even though Netflix was making a majority of its revenue from DVD sales, not rentals, Randolph and Hastings decided not to sell to Amazon or try to compete with it, and instead focus solely on rentals.

It was a strategy that paid off. Netflix grew its subscriber base by offering free trials and other deals that made the convenient rental service extremely popular, but meant it was also haemorrhaging money. Blockbuster finally agreed to talk to Netflix, calling an unexpected meeting the morning after an alcohol-fuelled Netflix retreat. He was struggling not to burst into laughter. According to the show, the deal was never completed because of antitrust concerns.

In , Antioco had dismissed Netflix. Hastings had flown to Dallas and met with Blockbuster management to propose Netflix run their brand online.

Antioco's people laughed at them. But by , Antioco and Blockbuster knew they were in for a fight. In , Blockbuster Online engaged in a price war with Netflix, as well as with Wal-Mart's competing service. In a conference call at the end of the year, Hastings told analysts that Blockbuster was throwing everything at them but the kitchen sink. On camera, Antioco, who was out at Blockbuster by , said: "At that point the rivalry was definitely established.

He also notes that that digital trails left by emails and electronic calendars can be very useful for mapping organizational networks. Fortunately, we have far more tools today than Antioco did then. The irony is that Blockbuster failed because its leadership had built a well-oiled operational machine. It was a very tight network that could execute with extreme efficiency, but poorly suited to let in new information.

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