"The Netflix of [Anything]" Is a Bad Business Plan
Hamilton Nolan · 02/02/12 03:30PMThis week, Time Inc. announced that it will be closing down its three year-old Maghound service—billed at its launch as "The Netflix of magazines." Seemed like a decent idea at the time. Turned out not to be. The Netflix business model is not as flexible as previously suspected. In reality, a business plan that reads "The Netflix of [anything new]" is a signal to run in the opposite direction.