The Netflix Flywheel

Netflix’s most important strategic move was not one product pivot. It was the construction of a flywheel where each additional subscriber improved the company’s ability to fund and distribute content.

The streaming model changed the economics of attention. Global distribution meant a show could amortize across markets in a way traditional TV rarely allowed.

The risk is that flywheels can become treadmills. When content spending rises faster than subscriber quality, the loop still moves — but it may stop compounding.