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Hastings: Producing original content is like a $100M single-round VC bet

Reed Hastings · The Netflix Culture Code That Changed Entertainment Forever | Reed Hastings Interview · Invest Like The Best · Jan 6, 2026 · at 29:10

Reed Hastings compares the financial model and risk structure of funding original television and movie productions to venture capital investing.

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“It's similar to venture capital if every A round were a hundred million and there was just an A round. So it tends to be pretty much a single round too. Fund the construction. You do get sequels and other things you have option rights too. But that would be the big difference from venture.”

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