Propy is pleased to welcome Barry Enderwick to its advisory team. Enderwick spent eleven years at Netflix, mostly in senior marketing roles. Barry brings expertise in brand positioning and subscriber acquisition, and he knows what it is like to disrupt an industry for the better.
How Netflix Put Blockbuster Out of Business
In the mid-2000s, home entertainment still centered on video rental stores like Blockbuster. Not only was this model reliant on penalizing patrons with late fees, but it was also inconvenient. Consumers had to pick up and return their DVDs. Netflix ended this practice, practically overnight.
Sometimes, a startup with lower prices will pull customers from an established brand, but the brand will remain in place until the newcomer beats it in terms of quality. In other cases, a startup offers lower prices and better quality from the start. This innovation is known as “big bang disruption,” and it is what happened when Netflix launched its video streaming service in 2007.
By marrying the latest in streaming technology with the reputation it earned as a DVD-by-mail business, Netflix turned home entertainment on its head. Binge-watching became a thing, and Blockbuster went from 10,000 stores to bankruptcy in what seemed to be the blink of an eye.
Propy, the Big Bang Disruptor of Real Estate
The real estate industry may soon share Blockbuster’s fate. Like the defunct chain, real estate incumbents have enjoyed a monopoly and, as a result, have made little effort to reduce expenses or boost transparency for consumers.
Propy has already simplified the purchase process by allowing buyers and sellers to meet and sign documents virtually. However, the real game-changer may be Propy’s introduction of blockchain tech as a solution to paper records, expensive middlemen, and the lack of transparency associated with the current system. Thanks to the tech, deeds can now be recorded automatically, agreements can be committed to smart contracts, and real-time transaction information can be viewed from anywhere.
Netflix brought cost savings and convenience to home entertainment. Propy hopes to leverage the expertise of advisors like Barry Enderwick to do the same and more for real estate.
