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That's a great point. I think both things probably need to be done. We took the distribution route, because ultimately we believe it's the direct relationship w
by Uzo0312 5y ago
That's a great point. I think both things probably need to be done. We took the distribution route, because ultimately we believe it's the direct relationship with the consumer that will allow for this to work. As a production company, you're a step away from the end-user, so you're at the mercy of a distribution company that has more than just the black audience to worry about. But if a company is solely focused on a single niche, like so many tech companies out there, the economics for super-serving that niche are a lot better.
- brodouevencode 5y agoBut it would take Netflix just one or two demo-specific properties to win that demo back. Unless the goal is to be acquired.
- swman 5y agoIt’s a yc (VC backed) company. You know the goal.
- dang 5y agoHmm, interesting comment: it could mean either of two opposite things, but that makes it self-contradictory! Just for clarity, when YC funds a company, the goal is not to have it get acquired. It's to have it go public. Acquisition interrupts that, so it's a suboptimal outcome. That said, YC supports what founders want to do.
- swman 5y agoTrue. I was making a simple blanket statement that for most VC backed companies you can be sure the end goal is either acquisition or successful ipo.
- jacquesm 5y agoHow many YC companies ended up going public out of the total? And how large is that total? What is the expected timeframe from launch to IPO? How many companies still outside of that window? Those would be interesting stats to have.
- yaacov 5y agoIt doesn’t have to be either-or, lots of people have multiple streaming services
- emodendroket 5y agoI read the average American has four. Seems like more than one person could reasonably watch but maybe I'm just not devoted enough to television.
- mbesto 5y ago> We took the distribution route, because ultimately we believe it's the direct relationship with the consumer that will allow for this to work. Be honest. It's less capital intensive, with much higher valuations.
- Uzo0312 5y agoGenerally, your points about capital and valuations are true. Of course, I could argue Netflix is way more capital intensive than any production company. And then, with Hello Sunshine and others, we're seeing production companies get Venture scale exits. So while I hear your point, those honestly weren't factors for us. It was more so about owning the relationship with the end-user.
- jacquesm 5y agoThere had to be a friendlier way to make that comment.
- yhoneycomb 5y agoYeah what the heck lol "Be honest" is the same as "you're a liar"
- TheAdamAndChe 5y agoYou are right about focusing on tiny niches is more profitable. The trouble is that this is corrosive to our society. Our extremely multicultural nation historically depended on popular media to create a homogeneous base from which to build our interactions upon. This product is advancing the corrosion of that base and separating us further.
- tekromancr 5y agoNothing is stopping you from consuming content that centers Black people. There has been an absolute renesance in the last few years of stories that focus on black lives in ways that haven't really been told in pop culture before, especially in TV. And the best part is these shows are good! They are really fucking good! Nothing is stopping you from consuming that content and incorporating into that homogeneous base upon which you build your interactions.
- TheAdamAndChe 5y ago"Netflix for black people" clearly isn't inclusive. It's clearly divisive and amplifying racial identity.
- Miner49er 5y agoI think we're already well past the point of return on that. It's not the 90s anymore where everyone watches the same 2 sitcoms or whatever. There's YouTube, Twitch, and like a dozen different streaming services out there. People don't all watch the same stuff anymore. I assume you are just as critical of things like Crunchyroll?
- TheAdamAndChe 5y agoCrunchyroll doesn't market itself as being by Asians, for Asians, and about Asians. It focuses on a specific genre of television that just happens to originate from Asia.
- TheAdamAndChe 5y ago
- Veen 5y agoBut what are you going to distribute if no one is making high-quality media for Black people?
- thisthat112233 5y agoI think what he's suggesting is that lack of distribution may be contributing to / causing the lack of quality black programming. By setting up a distribution company, they can now create a channel for quality work that exists but isn't currently being distributed.