James Keyes

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.

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'd It 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.

So we had a massive competitive advantage versus Netflix because Netflix had DVDs by mail, very little else. They'd It 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. Pretty compelling competitive advantage, right? So you say, what happened? Well, we also had a billion dollars of debt.

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 billion dollars of debt.

That occurred 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.

That occurred 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.

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 or 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 or 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.

There's an expression for that, a technical expression. I'll give you the technical business term. Yes. It's called a grin fucker. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. That's a good idea, sir. That. But it's true. It occurs and it's just so frustrating. Look, the root cause of that is fear. People are afraid they're going to lose their job. Fear is the biggest killer. of careers, of companies, even societies.

There's an expression for that, a technical expression. I'll give you the technical business term. Yes. It's called a grin fucker. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. That's a good idea, sir. That. But it's true. It occurs and it's just so frustrating. Look, the root cause of that is fear. People are afraid they're going to lose their job. Fear is the biggest killer. of careers, of companies, even societies.

They're coming to get you. They're going to take something from you. They got something that you don't have. Isn't that unfair? Fear is the lowest common denominator. It works. It's a motivating tool. There's only two ways to motivate people. You motivate them through hope and through inspiration. Or you scare them. So take that same reaction now. Put yourself in a corporate environment.

They're coming to get you. They're going to take something from you. They got something that you don't have. Isn't that unfair? Fear is the lowest common denominator. It works. It's a motivating tool. There's only two ways to motivate people. You motivate them through hope and through inspiration. Or you scare them. So take that same reaction now. Put yourself in a corporate environment.

Somebody does something that you think, I may lose my job. I may fail. Or I don't think that's a good idea, but I don't want to tell him. It's either fight and be disruptive in the work environment. We've all seen it. Somebody being obnoxious in a boardroom and demonstrating non-productive behavior, just being argumentative for no reason. Or It's the corporate version of flight, which is inertia.

Somebody does something that you think, I may lose my job. I may fail. Or I don't think that's a good idea, but I don't want to tell him. It's either fight and be disruptive in the work environment. We've all seen it. Somebody being obnoxious in a boardroom and demonstrating non-productive behavior, just being argumentative for no reason. Or It's the corporate version of flight, which is inertia.