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The 10 Most Stubborn People in Tech 7

by Dan Reilly on July 3, 2008 at 12:18 PM



Reed Hastings

If you've ever had late fees pile up for an overdue movie or book, you were probably tempted to say "screw it, I'm keeping this and never going back." Unless you're Reed Hastings, you probably didn't take that sentiment and create a hugely successful online DVD rental service in 1998. By sticking to the idea that customers want to watch DVDs with as little hassle as possible -- as in, no more effort than opening your mail-- Netflix has remained popular even though DVD sales have weakened and movies are easily available on demand, responding with set top boxes that let customers download films immediately. It's hard to believe now, but there really was a time back in the late '90s when the idea of relying on the US mail for DVDs sounded like just another crazy dot-com-boom idea, but Hastings' business model prevailed. If you really want to know how well Netflix is doing, go see how busy your local Blockbuster is, if it's still in business.

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