The Blockbuster Trap

Blockbuster had over nine thousand stores and was worth five billion dollars in

2004. Then Netflix offered to sell themselves to Blockbuster for just fifty million.

Blockbuster laughed them out of the room. The twist? They launched streaming

first. But late fees made up sixteen percent of revenue. Digital meant destroying

profit. They were trapped by success. Netflix had nothing to lose.

Blockbuster had everything to protect. Sometimes the biggest threat to innovation isn't lack of

vision. It's having too much to lose.