History
For a chronological guide, see Timeline of Netflix.
Netflix logo history
First logo, used until 2000
Second logo, used from 2000 to 2001
Third logo, used from 2001 to 2014
Fourth and current logo, used since 2014
Launch as a mail-based rental business (1997–2006)
Marc Randolph, co-founder of Netflix and the first CEO of the company
Reed Hastings, co-founder and Executive Chairman
Netflix was founded by Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings on August 29, 1997, in Scotts Valley,
California. Hastings, a computer scientist and mathematician, was a co-founder of Pure Software, which
was acquired by Rational Software that year for $750 million, the then biggest acquisition in Silicon
Valley history.[10] Randolph had worked as a marketing director for Pure Software after Pure Atria
acquired a company where Randolph worked. He was previously a co-founder of MicroWarehouse, a
computer mail-order company, as well as vice president of marketing for Borland.[11][12] Hastings and
Randolph came up with the idea for Netflix while carpooling between their homes in Santa Cruz,
California, and Pure Atria's headquarters in Sunnyvale.[13] Patty McCord, later head of human resources
at Netflix, was also in the carpool group.[14] Randolph admired Amazon and wanted to find a large
category of portable items to sell over the Internet using a similar model. Hastings and Randolph
considered and rejected selling and renting VHS as too expensive to stock and too delicate to ship.[11]
When they heard about DVDs, first introduced in the United States in early 1997, they tested the
concept of selling or renting DVDs by mail, by mailing a compact disc to Hastings's house in Santa Cruz.
[11] When the CD arrived intact, they decided to enter the $16 billion Home-video sales and rental
industry.[11][13] Hastings is often quoted saying that he decided to start Netflix after being fined $40 at
a Blockbuster store for being late to return a copy of Apollo 13.[13] Hastings
