⚔️ The $50 Million Laugh That Bankrupted a Giant Here’s another great book you should check out: The Art of Business Wars by David Brown. (He has a great podcast, too.) We can learn a great deal from history, and that’s why I continue to read books like this. Because what happened between Netflix and Blockbuster wasn’t just a business case study. It was trench warfare. In 2000, Netflix founders Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph got a meeting with Blockbuster’s CEO. They were scrappy. Hungover from a retreat. Randolph wore shorts and a tie-dye shirt. They pitched selling Netflix for just $50 million. Blockbuster laughed them out of the room. 🤣 They thought they were invincible. Five years later, Blockbuster was saddled with a billion in debt, and Netflix was gaining ground. In ten, Blockbuster was dead. What killed Blockbuster? Not just Netflix. Denial. Debt. And no vision. Hastings didn’t just offer DVDs by mail. He went after Blockbuster’s own customers with better logistics, smarter tech, and a cleaner experience. He foraged on the enemy, just like Sun Tzu advised in The Art of War: “One cartload of the enemy’s provisions is worth twenty of your own.” Netflix didn’t build a new market. They just did the old one better—and faster. When the world moved to streaming, they didn’t hesitate. They jumped the innovation chasm. Blockbuster tried to catch up... and tripped over their own legacy. What can we learn from this? 🏴 Don’t confuse a head start with a moat. Blockbuster had the customers. Netflix had the vision. 📉 If your org is built on old habits, disruption will gut you from the inside. Vision dies when nobody inside feels safe telling the truth. 💥 Move fast—but move smart. Netflix launched streaming while keeping DVDs. They didn’t burn the boats—they used them. 📜 The best acquisition you’ll ever make might look like a joke. (And if you’re the founder, being laughed at? That’s usually a good sign.) Let’s bring it to today. AI. EVs. Clean energy. CRE tech. Every category has its Blockbuster—fat, slow, and convinced they’re untouchable. And every category has its Netflix—learning, iterating, and quietly setting the fuse. Which one are you building? 👇 Drop your favorite underdog business story in the comments. 🤣 Or tell me when you were underestimated—and won.