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This guy went from the marines to a math teacher, to building a $300 billion company from scratch. His name is Reed Hastings, and he’s one of 2 men behind Netflix. What many don’t know, is Hastings wasn’t new to the business world when he started the streaming giant. In 1991, he founded Pure Software, a debugging tool for software developers that was acquired in 1997 for $750 million. By 1998, Hastings was using the money to create solution to late fees he racked up after returning Apollo 13 to the movie store 2 days late. Netflix was born. Originally, customers bought subscriptions and could order DVDs through the internet to their doorstep. With no late fees. As they grew to nearly half a million subscribers by 2001, Netflix turned down acquisition offers including $15 million by Amazon 2 months after launching and $50 million from Blockbuster in 2000. They delivered their billionth dvd in 2007 and launched their online streaming service the same year. Hastings led the company as CEO to top a $300 billion market cap in 2021 with over 230 million subscribers before stepping down last week. When did you first subscribe?