The most interesting sentence in this entire article about Netflix is this: "Unlike those companies that have different tentacles, Netflix does not have a lot of tentacles."

The one shortcoming of Netflix as they grew into a media powerhouse was to only keep that one tentacle in play, streaming media. An audience sitting and watching a screen is a very singular and passive activity. Netflix never took the next step to evolve into a brand that stretched out into many areas that ultimately fed the audience back to the streaming media.

Walt Disney laid out the plan in 1957 and it still holds true today. The creative studios are the heart, but just one part of an overall brand that stretches far beyond the creative work. Each element can capture a new audience and keep that audience engaged in the brand and ultimately build evangelicals for the brand.

Not to mention the revenue generation that comes from merchandise, licensing, live events, and so much more that Netflix could have capitalized on, but left behind. If done properly, the extra tentacles would have brought in revenue that far surpasses the subscription revenue.

Instead Netflix kept spending freely to buy theaters and more studios expecting that subscriptions alone would be enough to carry the company forward for the long haul. Basically all of their eggs were in the subscriber basket and as any business owner will tell you, never put all your eggs in one basket.

I've designed two streaming services and neither one was designed solely around subscribers and neither service was designed to make the bulk of revenue from said subscribers. The service itself was the foundation of a new brand with streaming media just one 'lure' to bring in an audience. When you build a company, even a streaming service, with a solid multi-dimensional revenue plan, you're not beholden to the ebbs and flows of full-time subscribers.

Walt Disney laid out the plan for all of us in 1957. It's still valid today.