Netflix is a going concern, and has been for quite some time. Even the streaming business is a few years old.
It may be an up front investment since the full benefits may take some time to accrue, but it is an investment made based on a great deal more information than a typical startup has.
Further, it sounds like an investment that is providing them with an immediate and valuable benefit, they now have a foundation for ramping up their streaming business. This is going to be a big growth area, and it's is one that they are well positioned to succeed in. Or, you could flip it around, failure to secure a strong position in the streaming business will be the death of the company, and a squandering of the business equity they have been building, since their founding, to be well positioned for this transition.
And finally, if you have doubts about the value of making up-front engineering investment in order to reduce forecastable operating costs (and avoid what is probably an even larger up-front investment in datacenter buildout), well, what are you doing here?
Netflix is a going concern, and has been for quite some time. Even the streaming business is a few years old.
It may be an up front investment since the full benefits may take some time to accrue, but it is an investment made based on a great deal more information than a typical startup has.
Further, it sounds like an investment that is providing them with an immediate and valuable benefit, they now have a foundation for ramping up their streaming business. This is going to be a big growth area, and it's is one that they are well positioned to succeed in. Or, you could flip it around, failure to secure a strong position in the streaming business will be the death of the company, and a squandering of the business equity they have been building, since their founding, to be well positioned for this transition.
And finally, if you have doubts about the value of making up-front engineering investment in order to reduce forecastable operating costs (and avoid what is probably an even larger up-front investment in datacenter buildout), well, what are you doing here?