> But they were too early and gained no traction As I understand the history of Blockbuster, the CEO was actually winning against Netflix. It was obviously co

> But they were too early and gained no traction As I understand the history of Blockbuster, the CEO was actually winning against Netflix. It was obviously costly fight (needed lots of investment). The Blockbuster CEO met his performance goal and was expecting hefty bonus but Carl Icahn, a board member and big Blockbuster shareholder, torpedoed the bonus award. CEO quit. The next CEO reduced spending in dvd-by-mail and online streaming and Netflix won. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110318006089/en/Happened-Blockbuster-Story-John-Antioco-Carl-Icahn https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110318006089/en/Hap... So you could say that Blockbuster lost because Carl Icahn is an idiot and single-handedly destroyed Blockbuster. There's no indication that they lost because they were "too early". In fact, their online product was "pay-per-view" while Netflix was "all-you-can-eat" https://www.cnet.com/news/netflix-vs-blockbuster-whats-the-best-service-for-streaming-and-dvds/ https://www.cnet.com/news/netflix-vs-blockbuster-whats-the-b...