James Keyes

Gave me the opportunity then to take on the challenge of Blockbuster. So I went into Blockbuster, eyes wide open. I knew it was going to be a challenge. Didn't know the kind of challenge we would face. Yeah. Because no one thinks about Blockbuster and 7-Eleven as the same thing, except they're two iconic brands, right?

Gave me the opportunity then to take on the challenge of Blockbuster. So I went into Blockbuster, eyes wide open. I knew it was going to be a challenge. Didn't know the kind of challenge we would face. Yeah. Because no one thinks about Blockbuster and 7-Eleven as the same thing, except they're two iconic brands, right?

If you think about the nature of Blockbuster's business, it wasn't renting DVDs. That wasn't their business. Their business was convenient access to media entertainment. It's a convenience business, not unlike 7-Eleven. They made the pivot from VHS tapes, which is where the industry started, to DVDs. DVDs were more convenient access to media entertainment. So they made that pivot successfully.

If you think about the nature of Blockbuster's business, it wasn't renting DVDs. That wasn't their business. Their business was convenient access to media entertainment. It's a convenience business, not unlike 7-Eleven. They made the pivot from VHS tapes, which is where the industry started, to DVDs. DVDs were more convenient access to media entertainment. So they made that pivot successfully.

The digital transition was coming. Clearly, it was coming. I wanted to take the company there. My very first act as CEO was to buy a streaming video company called Blockbuster On Demand. So we had a massive competitive advantage versus Netflix because Netflix had DVDs by mail, very little else. They had streaming, but they had very old movies.

The digital transition was coming. Clearly, it was coming. I wanted to take the company there. My very first act as CEO was to buy a streaming video company called Blockbuster On Demand. So we had a massive competitive advantage versus Netflix because Netflix had DVDs by mail, very little else. They had streaming, but they had very old movies.

MovieLink had new releases, which was 80% of the blockbuster business. So we had a much better offering, arguably, a streaming platform, DVDs by mail, stores, in case you didn't want the one you got by mail, you could exchange it. We had kiosks. So we had something called total access, which is any way you want your media entertainment, we have it for you.

MovieLink had new releases, which was 80% of the blockbuster business. So we had a much better offering, arguably, a streaming platform, DVDs by mail, stores, in case you didn't want the one you got by mail, you could exchange it. We had kiosks. So we had something called total access, which is any way you want your media entertainment, we have it for you.

Pretty compelling competitive advantage, right? So you say, what happened? Well, we also had a From an IPO, in other words, a public offering that Viacom once owned Blockbuster, and they spun it out and created a new entity, a public company called Blockbuster. In 2004, put on a billion dollars of debt. Third of which was due in 2009.

Pretty compelling competitive advantage, right? So you say, what happened? Well, we also had a From an IPO, in other words, a public offering that Viacom once owned Blockbuster, and they spun it out and created a new entity, a public company called Blockbuster. In 2004, put on a billion dollars of debt. Third of which was due in 2009.

Now, if you remember what happened in 2008, something called Lehman Brothers occurred. Financial market collapsed around Lehman Brothers failure and others. And we had a refinancing that we had to get done. Yeah. It's like being in a commercial airliner at 40,000 feet and all of a sudden the air gets sucked out. You have a decompression. That's what happened to Blockbuster.

Now, if you remember what happened in 2008, something called Lehman Brothers occurred. Financial market collapsed around Lehman Brothers failure and others. And we had a refinancing that we had to get done. Yeah. It's like being in a commercial airliner at 40,000 feet and all of a sudden the air gets sucked out. You have a decompression. That's what happened to Blockbuster.

We had to put the aircraft in a bit of a dive, if you will, preserve cash. and get to a safe altitude to be able to then climb back up. So we took it through a restructuring and had a successful sale of the entity to Dish Networks. So in spite of popular belief, Blockbuster didn't liquidate. They didn't go away.

We had to put the aircraft in a bit of a dive, if you will, preserve cash. and get to a safe altitude to be able to then climb back up. So we took it through a restructuring and had a successful sale of the entity to Dish Networks. So in spite of popular belief, Blockbuster didn't liquidate. They didn't go away.

They were sold to Dish Network, who ultimately had a different strategy for 100% streaming and 100% streaming via mobility They were a bit early in their strategy and ultimately closed the stores down. They still own the brand. You never know. It may come back one day.

They were sold to Dish Network, who ultimately had a different strategy for 100% streaming and 100% streaming via mobility They were a bit early in their strategy and ultimately closed the stores down. They still own the brand. You never know. It may come back one day.

I set this thing off, almost blew myself up. Didn't manage to get off the ground, but it did create quite a little fire. So I snuffed out the fire and then left. Came back and discovered I had nearly burned down half the neighborhood. So here's a kid trying to learn. And I was dubbed a bad kid in the neighborhood because I almost burned the place down.

I set this thing off, almost blew myself up. Didn't manage to get off the ground, but it did create quite a little fire. So I snuffed out the fire and then left. Came back and discovered I had nearly burned down half the neighborhood. So here's a kid trying to learn. And I was dubbed a bad kid in the neighborhood because I almost burned the place down.

You better call me Jim, though, Adam. I put James on the book because I wanted to be more formal, but nobody will know who it is if they call me James.

You better call me Jim, though, Adam. I put James on the book because I wanted to be more formal, but nobody will know who it is if they call me James.