Who would have predicted that Netflix would take over in the way that it has?

I certainly did not think that when I started renting DVDs with Lovefilm. At the time, the founders did not feel that it was inevitable.  It felt like an uphill struggle against all the odds at each point.

Yet at the same time, each step moved the business forward with more and more people renting, then subscribing and adopting.

The move to rentals, and ditching purchasing; the move to streaming and ditching DVDs; the move to producing content, reducing reliance on studios, and the move to leveraging AI and personalisation – all of this seemed a pipe dream.

These “incremental changes” were part of a longer broader journey that has fundamentally changed our relationship with film, TV and entertainment.

It was never supposed to work, but it did. It worked despite all the challenges, and all those that did not believe it was possible. Habits changed.

Is the same thing happening now with clothing resale? Garment rental? AI? Tech enabled personalisation? Do we only know after it’s happened?

If you have not read it, I’d highly recommend Marc Randolph’s book on Netflix.

Netflix now helps us choose what we watch.

Why shouldn’t tech help us choose what we wear?