Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph founded Netflix in 1998 as a DVD-by-mail rental service.
The company began by shipping DVDs to customers through the postal system. Its early model differed from traditional video stores because customers could order titles online and receive discs at home.
Netflix later introduced a subscription service and a DVD-rental system without traditional late-fee pressure. In the late 2000s, it expanded into streaming, gradually changing from a physical-media rental business into an internet television company.
A frequent mix-up is assigning Netflix’s founding solely to Reed Hastings. Hastings became its better-known leader, but Marc Randolph was a co-founder and its first chief executive. The company’s streaming-era identity came after its original DVD business.