6 ms·

Are you implying Netflix is not a tech company?

ksec 5y ago
I definitely see Netflix as a Media Company, much like Disney. Disney and Pixar have great tech too, but they are not tech company in any shape or form. How Netflix got lumped into "FAANG" aka Big Tech is still a mystery to me.
- kerng 5y ago
  By that logic Facebook certainly wouldn't be a tech company either.
  - geffchang 5y ago
    Why not? Didn't Facebook create tools like GraphQL and React?
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - bcrosby95 5y ago
      Netflix has created tools and open source libraries too. RxJava was opensourced by Netflix, the defacto standard for reactive programming in Java. They also open sourced a lot of their work for working with avif files, which has managed to find its way into Chrome, among other projects. Among other things.
      - flatiron 5y ago
        they do occasionally use BSD licensed software so they can choose what/when/if to open source.
  - ksec 5y ago
    Facebook dont consider themselves as tech companies. But there aren't any other category that are clearly defined in which they fit in. Social Media isn't one.
  - 867-5309 5y ago
    I wonder how long it will take until people adopt their new name, and MAANG
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - citrusybread 5y ago
      might as well go for MAMAG at that point, swapping Netflix out and Microsoft in. Or MAMANG. Or even AMMANG. Possibilities are endless. :)
      - newacronym 5y ago
        MAGMA. You heard it here first
    - kerng 5y ago
      The new offical acronym on the street is MAMAA by the way. Microsoft, Apple, Meta, Amazon and Alphabet. Jim Cramer announced this on Friday.
- zinekeller 5y ago
  Now probably, but at the time the FAANG acrnonym was conceived, Netflix Originals and other productions ran internally was a drop in the ocean compared to their licensed content, similar to how Apple has controlled music (before streaming), so it made sense.
- TheCoelacanth 5y ago
  Because FAANG was coined as a term for super high growth stocks, not for anything to do with technology.
- 300bps 5y ago
  NFLX was founded in 1997. They didn't have original content until 2013. Before their original content I seriously considered shorting their stock. Their business model without original content was structurally flawed. They effectively had a maximum profit they could earn. Literally anything they did to increase their profit would be taken by the content producers they were forced to buy the licenses from. Creating original content was a necessary step to survive just like pivoting from their original DVD mailing business to streaming. They're still a technology company though.
- LeifCarrotson 5y ago
  It's hard to define any company as a 'tech company' if you're willing to define Netflix as a Media Company. In some sense, I agree - Netflix, Disney, and Pixar are media companies that use technology to distribute, to recommend, and to produce their content. But in the same sense, Google is an advertising company that uses technology to sell and to show their ads (and they have a few loss-leading tech ventures like search, mail, a phone OS, and a browser - all of which they give away to more effectively show those ads). Facebook is another advertising company, they happen to show and profile their ads using their social network tech. Amazon is a retail sales, warehousing, and product distribution company that happens to use a lot of technology. They also have a "tech company" division that sells web services, but that's only 13% of their revenue. Similarly, Walmart is a retail sales and warehousing company (as well as product distribution now, but most recognizable by their brick-and-mortar stores) that uses technology in every aspect of buying product, shipping it to stores, deciding where and how much of it to stock, how to price it, and when to restock it, just like Amazon. There was a time when Sam Walton walked around, squinted at the shelves, and made notes about what and how much to order on a clipboard, but that's long past - it's all tech now. Automotive manufacturers are other very big tech companies, they build and sell automobiles but every step of that design, fabricate, market, and sell process uses technology. Apple, at least, sells technology hardware. Microsoft also sells technology hardware and software, but they did so before FAANG were big so they're not in the list either. The list is arbitrary. Software and technology is eating - has eaten - the world, and management of it is critical to every business.
- madeofpalk 5y ago
  > How Netflix got lumped into Otherwise it would be a slur.
- darkerside 5y ago
  Two ways I would argue for Netflix being a tech company. A critical question is, how and how much do they pay their developers (and other tech folks)? I believe Netflix compensates their tech workers more richly than the average media company. I am certain of it if you take an average over the past 10 years. The other argument is, when we say tech, we really mean qualitative innovation. Did Netflix disrupt an existing 800 pound gorilla using technology? The answer is yes, they killed Blockbuster by embracing tech.
mbesto 5y ago
Since the idea of a "tech company" comes up so often, I'll just leave this here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27693634 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27693634

ksec 5y ago

I definitely see Netflix as a Media Company, much like Disney. Disney and Pixar have great tech too, but they are not tech company in any shape or form. How Netflix got lumped into "FAANG" aka Big Tech is still a mystery to me.

kerng 5y ago
By that logic Facebook certainly wouldn't be a tech company either.
- geffchang 5y ago
  Why not? Didn't Facebook create tools like GraphQL and React?
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - bcrosby95 5y ago
    Netflix has created tools and open source libraries too. RxJava was opensourced by Netflix, the defacto standard for reactive programming in Java. They also open sourced a lot of their work for working with avif files, which has managed to find its way into Chrome, among other projects. Among other things.
    - flatiron 5y ago
      they do occasionally use BSD licensed software so they can choose what/when/if to open source.
- ksec 5y ago
  Facebook dont consider themselves as tech companies. But there aren't any other category that are clearly defined in which they fit in. Social Media isn't one.
- 867-5309 5y ago
  I wonder how long it will take until people adopt their new name, and MAANG
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - citrusybread 5y ago
    might as well go for MAMAG at that point, swapping Netflix out and Microsoft in. Or MAMANG. Or even AMMANG. Possibilities are endless. :)
    - newacronym 5y ago
      MAGMA. You heard it here first
  - kerng 5y ago
    The new offical acronym on the street is MAMAA by the way. Microsoft, Apple, Meta, Amazon and Alphabet. Jim Cramer announced this on Friday.
zinekeller 5y ago
Now probably, but at the time the FAANG acrnonym was conceived, Netflix Originals and other productions ran internally was a drop in the ocean compared to their licensed content, similar to how Apple has controlled music (before streaming), so it made sense.
TheCoelacanth 5y ago
Because FAANG was coined as a term for super high growth stocks, not for anything to do with technology.
300bps 5y ago
NFLX was founded in 1997. They didn't have original content until 2013. Before their original content I seriously considered shorting their stock. Their business model without original content was structurally flawed. They effectively had a maximum profit they could earn. Literally anything they did to increase their profit would be taken by the content producers they were forced to buy the licenses from. Creating original content was a necessary step to survive just like pivoting from their original DVD mailing business to streaming. They're still a technology company though.
LeifCarrotson 5y ago
It's hard to define any company as a 'tech company' if you're willing to define Netflix as a Media Company. In some sense, I agree - Netflix, Disney, and Pixar are media companies that use technology to distribute, to recommend, and to produce their content. But in the same sense, Google is an advertising company that uses technology to sell and to show their ads (and they have a few loss-leading tech ventures like search, mail, a phone OS, and a browser - all of which they give away to more effectively show those ads). Facebook is another advertising company, they happen to show and profile their ads using their social network tech. Amazon is a retail sales, warehousing, and product distribution company that happens to use a lot of technology. They also have a "tech company" division that sells web services, but that's only 13% of their revenue. Similarly, Walmart is a retail sales and warehousing company (as well as product distribution now, but most recognizable by their brick-and-mortar stores) that uses technology in every aspect of buying product, shipping it to stores, deciding where and how much of it to stock, how to price it, and when to restock it, just like Amazon. There was a time when Sam Walton walked around, squinted at the shelves, and made notes about what and how much to order on a clipboard, but that's long past - it's all tech now. Automotive manufacturers are other very big tech companies, they build and sell automobiles but every step of that design, fabricate, market, and sell process uses technology. Apple, at least, sells technology hardware. Microsoft also sells technology hardware and software, but they did so before FAANG were big so they're not in the list either. The list is arbitrary. Software and technology is eating - has eaten - the world, and management of it is critical to every business.
madeofpalk 5y ago
> How Netflix got lumped into Otherwise it would be a slur.
darkerside 5y ago
Two ways I would argue for Netflix being a tech company. A critical question is, how and how much do they pay their developers (and other tech folks)? I believe Netflix compensates their tech workers more richly than the average media company. I am certain of it if you take an average over the past 10 years. The other argument is, when we say tech, we really mean qualitative innovation. Did Netflix disrupt an existing 800 pound gorilla using technology? The answer is yes, they killed Blockbuster by embracing tech.

mbesto 5y ago

Since the idea of a "tech company" comes up so often, I'll just leave this here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27693634 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27693634