The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe - 24: Big Guy, Little Guy

Episode Date: July 5, 2016

How do you compete with a thriving 20th century company? Use 18th century technology of course.

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Reed was a little guy, a little guy with no plan, no strategy, and no real idea of what to do with his life. So uncertain was Reed about the trajectory of his own career. He joined the Army, as well as the Peace Corps, a monument to vocational schizophrenia if there ever was one. John, on the other hand, he was a big guy, a big guy who knew from the start exactly where he was headed. Like his dad, a milkman in Brooklyn, John worked hard and always put the customer first. He started out at a 7-Eleven stocking shelves. Soon after that, he was running the store, and by the time he was 25, John was managing dozens of 7-Elevens.

After that, John went on to run the Circle K organization, and then he became the CEO of Taco Bell. John's rise to the top was as fast as the food he served. And when he transitioned into the entertainment business, he took all that experience with him. Meanwhile, little Reed returned from the Peace Corps, determined to do something big. In Silicon Valley, he was surrounded by all sorts of new technologies and bold innovations. But it was a very old idea that got Reed's attention, an idea from 1791, first laid out in the U.S. Constitution. What if the little guy could use the U.S. Postal Service to compete directly with the biggest guys in the business? Reed got busy and before long found himself in direct competition with Big John.

Now, this is not a new story. Little guys and big guys have been squaring off ever since David and Goliath came face to face in the Valley of Ila. But here in modern times, most epic confrontations almost. most never involve spears and slingshots. They involve shareholders and stock valuations, and they play out on battlefields of burnished mahogany that glow under the cold buzz of fluorescent lights. It was there in a corporate conference room, as forgettable as it was homogenous, that Reed and John came together for a friendly chat about the future. Reed's little company was gaining loyal customers in getting some very good press. Reed thought that maybe John, being a big guy,

might want to buy him, making Reed a big guy too. But the conversation was short. In truth, Reed's little company was actually losing money. And Big John knew that a world obsessed with speed and customer service would have little patience for an idea that relied upon the stodgy old post office. So Big John laughed Little Reed right out of the conference room, politely, and wished him every success. In the months to follow, Big John and Little Reed would meet a few more times, and each time John would chuckle at the sheer audacity of Reed's proposition. You see, Reed was trying to get John to buy a company that lost money and relied on an 18th century delivery system for $50 million. You can understand why Big John might chuckle at

such a suggestion. On the other hand, $50 million today is two-tenths of one percent of Reed Hastings' little company, a little company called Netflix. As for John Antioch's big company, well, it took a while, but after 14 years of competing with the little guy, the giant finally fell, and the last of those blue and yellow signs once ubiquitous. One's ubiquitous across America flickered and faded away at Blockbuster Video. Proving once again that little guys don't always stay that way, and the customer is still the biggest boss of all. Anyway, that's the way I heard it.

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The ocean delights us. Some marvel at the colorful world below the surface. The ocean feeds us. Others find nourishment in its bounty. The ocean teaches us how our everyday choices impact even the deepest places. The ocean moves us, whether we're riding a wave or soaking in its breathtaking beauty. The ocean connects us. Find your connection at Monterey Bay Aquarium.org slash connects.