Netflix sold a stake in this company for $7.4M. The company is now worth $50B and one of their biggest competitors.
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2) In 2002, Anthony Woods started a company called Roku. It didn't go anywhere until he joined Netflix in 2007 as VP of Internet TV.
Netflix decided to take it over and called the project, Project:Griffin.
3) The goal?
Build a set-top box to allow Netflix users to stream Netflix content to their TVs.
Netflix had 20 engineers working on the platform. It was a few weeks from launch until Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, intervened.
4) Reed Hastings said:
"I want to be able to call Steve Jobs and talk to him about putting Netflix on Apple TV, ... But if Iβm making my own hardware, Steveβs not going to take my call.β
Hastings killed Netflix internally and spun the team out.
5) Another high-level employee explained:
βImagine you drive a Chevy, and the gas station is branded Ford ... Would you feel comfortable filling up your tank there? I think thatβs why Reed didnβt think this could be done inside Netflix.β
6) The new Roku incorporated in February of 2008 and received a $5.7M investment from Netflix.
The company later received a Series A investment from Menlo Partners for $8.4M in October 2008.
7) Roku's first device launched on May 20, 2008. Of course, it's first partnership was with Netflix.
The product allowed users to search and stream Netflix on their TV.
8) Roku launched two new models in October 2009. It added support for Amazon Video, MLB.tv, and introduced a third-party channel store.
Users could download third-party apps for other content services.
9) In July 2012, Roku introduced its second-generation model. A few months later, the Roku dongle came out.
It was less expensive, easier to update and more portable than anything else on the market.
At that time Roku supported more than 400 channels.
10) In 2014, Roku began to really take off when it entered into partnership with TCL, a Chinese technology company.
Roku would be pre-installed on every TCL TV in the US. TCL would leverage Roku's brand awareness.
Roku is now partnered with 15 TV brands.
11) In 2014, TCL ranked 13th in TV sales with less than 1% of the market. In 2019, TCL ranked 2nd in TV sales with 18% of the market.
The partnership turned TCL into a brand name and put Roku in more households than ever before.
12) Roku's distribution helped them enter into a new business, advertising.
In October 2019, Roku announced the acquisition of Dataxu, an advertising platform that lets marketers plan and buy video ad campaigns, for $150 million.
Roku's ad revenue reached $740M in 2019.
13) In September 2017, Roku went public. But do you know who didn't own any stock? Netflix.
They sold their stake (worth $7.4M) to Menlo Ventures in 2010 for a pre-tax profit of $1.7M.
14) Roku's success came down to positioning. The platform was "content-neutral". It didn't compete with OTT services like Netflix or Amazon Prime Video. It slowly built up its distribution to be the #1 Smart TV OS in the US with 38% of market share (51M active accounts).
15) Today Roku is worth $50B. It has 1,800 channels and just purchased Quibi's library. It is the latest signal that it's not just a content aggregator, but a content distributor. Roku is no longer the Switzerland of streaming.
16) In hindsight, Netflix's decision to sell Roku was the right one. It's highly unlikely Netflix would be where it is today if it didn't.
But the biggest irony is that one of their biggest competitors is an invention all their own.
.@JoshRichards is one of the world's most famous TikTok stars. He has 23.9M fans on the platform.
His goal? Be the first influencer billionaire.
The crazy part? He's 18, but already on his way to accomplishing it.
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2) Josh started his social media career on Musically at age 14. His goal was to have 10,000 followers before he entered high school. He spent up to 5 hours a day creating videos
He ended the summer with 26,000 followers.
3) ByteDance purchased Musically and all his followers transferred over to TikTok.
He started making money on TikTok and by the age of 17 had signed brand deals with Reebok, CashApp and Crocs.
Today, I published the 50th episode of my podcast. I started it in March of 2020. The podcast has 4.9K downloads. The YouTube channel has 4,700 views.
Here's what I learned.
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Starting the Podcast
β’ I started my podcast as an excuse to talk to people
β’ It was originally launched as a live-stream
β’ My logic was that I could collect email addresses and use that for a future newsletter
My First Guest
β’ My first guest was @petermartindc
β’ We live-streamed it via Zoom and 14 people showed up
β’ Live-streaming video is F**king hard
β’ You have to worry about people showing up and technical problems. Don't start with this.
β’ Everyone needs to work, but not everyone is passionate about it
β’ Are people working because they are passionate or because they need to?
β’ Some people have lost faith in the system or can't find a job
How the Creator Economy Evolved
β’ The first collab house was started in 2009
β’ People developed content as a means of self-expression and/or creativity
β’ Influencer wasn't considered a "normal" job or a way to make money
β’ Now it's changed
8 Lessons I Learned from Enzo Ferrari on Building the World's Most Valuable Brand β Ferrari.
"Race cars are neither beautiful nor ugly. They become beautiful when they win."
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Exclusivity as a Marketing Strategy
Ferrari doesn't want just anyone to own a Ferrari. "If anyone can walk into a dealership and get one, then it loses what makes it special ... for the model to work, you have to keep prices up.β
Their β¬3.7B in net revenue proves it works.
Be the Best At One Thing
Ferrari has won 237 F1 Grand Prix races. It's closest competitor has 56 fewer wins. Ferrari is first and foremost a racing company. Its success in racing has increased the demand for its road cars. People want to drive the best and the best is Ferrari.
1/ I grew my newsletter from 0 to 1,000 subscribers in 5 months. Here's how I did it.
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2/ When COVID began, I stopped traveling and taking meetings. My business partner, @ChrisBerryOH, encouraged me to create content. I didn't have a focus or an audience but did have experience with content creation.
3/ One of my current endeavors is running the Cleveland Tech Newsletter. Each week I'd interview a guest in the Cleveland Tech scene. I was going to apply that same lesson to my new newsletter.
1/ In 1975, Gary Dahl started selling rocks for $4. Six months later, he made $15 million dollars.
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2/ Gary Dahl was employed as an advertising executive in California. He was at a bar with his friends listening to them complain about their pets. He had an idea.
3/ He joked to them that they should have a rock as a pet. He decided to turn that joke into an actual product β "The Pet Rock"