Eric Siu explains how Amazon Prime started by licensing content from studios like Sony, then built its own production and distribution after Netflix forced the shift. He and Neil avoid two-sided marketplace businesses because balancing both sides is too hard.
Amazon Prime, when they were first competing, they didn't have distribution, nor did they have content back in the day. And it used to be called Amazon Unboxed, right? They had to pay like Sony for the distribution rights and all that. This is when they realized they're offering Sony for these titles and then all of a sudden the price doubled. It's like, why did the price double? It's because Netflix came in and started competing and then everyone realized they had to start making their own content and they had to create their own distribution. So Amazon Prime was the distribution, the content. So sometimes it's like a chicken and egg thing. To digress a little bit, Neil and I, we don't really do marketplace businesses because we didn't have to fight 2 sides. It's kind of hard. Not saying that's a marketplace, but you get what I mean.
