In 2000, Netflix offered to sell itself to Blockbuster for $50 million. Blockbuster laughed. A decade later, Netflix was worth billions. Blockbuster became a memory we all cherish.

Why did Blockbuster die?

There wasn’t a single reason. It was a combination of missteps:

• They underestimated new technology.

• They clung to old business models for too long.

• Overall, they just moved too slowly while Netflix moved faster than any company before.

Today, history is repeating itself.

Speed is All That Matters

Established companies today face the same threat Blockbuster did: smaller, scrappy startups with zero legacy baggage.

Startups can deploy products in weeks with AI that can replace 80% of the work your team has done over decades. Meanwhile, big companies are stuck in six-month release cycles.

AI isn’t the disruption. Speed is.

Industries that once seemed untouchable—retail, transportation, manufacturing—are no longer safe. Branding and advertising can help, but the real differentiator will be technology and how fast companies can move.

What Happens When Companies Slow Down?

• Amazon vs. Shopify: Shopify rolled out Shopify Fulfillment Network in under two years, while Amazon struggled to modernize core inventory management systems written in Java 1.4.

• OpenAI vs. Google: Google had TPU infrastructure for years, but OpenAI shipped ChatGPT while Google was stuck in internal debates about model deployment.

• Dollar General vs. Temu: Temu integrated AI for real-time demand forecasting across suppliers, while Dollar General relied on outdated batch processing for inventory updates.

• Freight Tech Startups vs. Legacy Logistics: Companies like Flexport built cloud-based shipment tracking systems in months. Many traditional freight firms still use AS/400-based systems from the 90s.

It’s not industry-specific. Speed is industry-agnostic.

What Can Companies Do?

1. Cut Complexity: Simplify infrastructure and kill dead code.

2. Empower Teams: Smaller teams with full ownership ship faster.

3. Automate Everything: Modernize legacy systems before they become a drag.

4. Invest in Telemetry: You can’t fix what you can’t see. Invest in observability tools to understand bottlenecks.

The playbook is simple: move fast, or be replaced by those who do.

Just ask Blockbuster.