Peter Galloway

IT evangelist pursuing the design, development and distribution of IT based business products and services that improve people’s lives.

[Peter Galloway @pfgalloway]

@JanetDuarte19 @sydneyswans I was in first 2,000 - now 14,000. Thanks a lot @Ticketek_AU ! 🤬

[Peter Galloway @pfgalloway]

@Johnty35524255 @Ticketek_AU Same here

[Marc Randolph @marcrandolph]

In 2000, Blockbuster was the movie rental king with 60,000 stores and 9,000 employees. Reed Hastings and I, on the other hand, were just two Silicon Valley geeks with a DVD-rental-by-mail idea.

We’d been struggling since 1998 to find a way to make it work, and by the summer of 2000, we were finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel. Our no-due-dates, no-late-fees subscription model was a hit. Customers were pouring in and the company was growing like crazy.

Running a subscription business takes a lot of cash, since you pay acquisition costs up front while the revenue comes in over time. But it was the height of the internet boom. Cash was plentiful.

Until suddenly it wasn’t. Over a few short months, the internet bubble finally popped. The .com at the end of our name had been a badge of honor; now it was three scarlet letters. And with customers flooding in, cash was flying out. We’d spent more than $50 million getting to this point, and now it looked like our success was going to bankrupt us.

Luckily, there is a Silicon Valley play book for this. It’s called “pursue strategic alternatives”—code for “sell, and sell fast.”

The obvious strategic alternative for us was Blockbuster. Which is why, just a few weeks later, you’d have found me, Reed, and our CFO Barry McCarthy sitting at a giant conference table on the 37th floor of the Blockbuster headquarters in Dallas, getting ready to pitch Blockbuster.

The pitch was simple. We would join forces with Blockbuster. We would run the online business. They would run the stores. We would jointly develop a blended model. And everyone would live happily ever after.

And it was going great. They were leaning in. They asked good questions. Until they asked the most important question of all: “How much?”

Now, we had rehearsed this. We figured we were $50 million in the hole... so let’s go with that! Reed leaned forward confidently and told them: “Fifty Million Dollars.”

There was perfect silence. Their words were “we’ll consider it,” but we could tell they were fighting to suppress laughter. After that, the meeting went downhill fast.

Well, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Or, as my father used to tell me, “sometimes, the only way out is through.” We knew there was no easy way out. We struggled for years. But we eventually did make it through. We had our IPO. We passed Blockbuster in revenue.

And today, the company that Blockbuster could have purchased in 2000 for $50 million, has a market cap exceeding $150 billion. And that company with 9000 stores? Now it’s got just one.

But what’s the lesson to take from this?

There’s certainly an inspiring one: It’s possible for a handful of people, with no prior experience in the video business, to take down a 6 billion dollar category-leading company.

But I think the more important lesson—one that Blockbuster learned too late—is simply this:

If you are unwilling to disrupt your business, there will always be someone willing to do it for you.

[Peter Galloway @pfgalloway]

Heaven got a little better today ❤️🤍

[Sydney Swans @sydneyswans]

A man who brought so much cheer to all who knew him ❤️

We are incredibly saddened by the passing of Kenny Williams,an amazing man who dedicated his life to the red & white.

We send our condolences to Yvonne, Dianne,his family & friends during this time. A full tribute to come.

[Sydney Swans AFLW @SydneySwansAFLW]

We will wear this guernsey this Saturday for Marn Grook at the SCG.

Designed by Lisa Sansbury, mother of Adam Goodes, the guernsey depicts where the city meets the sea, telling the story of Indigenous people coming together around Sydney’s harbour and estuaries.

[Sydney Swans @sydneyswans]

To the 78,377 at the MCG tonight and the red and white watching from home.. We can hear every single one of you. ❤️

#Bloods

[Peter Galloway @pfgalloway]

@SydneySwansAFLW Great game, great atmosphere, great team. Onwards!

[Peter Galloway @pfgalloway]

@jasonmquist Great thread! Go #Swans

[Peter Galloway @pfgalloway]

💯

[. @jdpoc]

This day in 1954, Alan Turing took his life by his own hand, driven to death by society’s inability to accept a different form of sexuality.

He invented the modern computer.

Whatever device you are reading this on, came from his genius.

#PrideMonth

[Peter Galloway @pfgalloway]

Nice one @Matthew_Reilly - loved it. Been a fan since Ice Station, awesome to see a one of your stories on the screen! Can *not* wait for the next one! #interceptor

https://t.co/Wm6ChpGQJN

[Peter Galloway @pfgalloway]

@Douges2

[Aaron Slodov @aphysicist]

*1989* offer letter for working w Jobs at NeXT looks better than some startup offers I've seen in 2022

[Dr Helen Cannon @HelenMCannon]

Bradfield deserves better vote 1️⃣ Nicolette Boele
#NicForBradfield
#BradfieldVotes

[Nicolette Boele MP @Nicolette_Boele]

I keep seeing #NicforBradfield corflutes lit up at night around the electorate… huge shout out of thanks to all of my very passionate corflute hosts! #BradfieldVotes #auspol

[Nicolette Boele MP @Nicolette_Boele]

I'm pleased to say it will be even more straightforward for the people of #Bradfield to Vote 1 BOELE Nicolette with my name drawn to appear first on the House of Representatives ballot paper for the election on May 21.

#BradfieldVotes #NicForBradfield #NoSuchThingAsSafeSeat

[Peter Galloway @pfgalloway]

@martz6812 @Douges2 boop!

[Peter Galloway @pfgalloway]

@benji_potter Yes!!!

[Peter Galloway @pfgalloway]

Love it!

[Judy Louie Brown @mcjude]

Since 2016 Dad & I have waged sprout war: I’ve hidden them in chocolate, in his toothpaste, he has retaliated by filling my bedsheets with them... It is an even-sided conflict, with both resorting to greater nefariousness & descending to even more underhand deception each year.

[Peter Galloway @pfgalloway]

@Douges2

[edgarwright @edgarwright]

I've seen 2/3rds of GET BACK now & I'm glad it's in parts as, while truly fascinating, it's emotionally wrenching at times. You feel for them trying to create magic under the microscope. There's a Harrison solo song deployed by Jackson & co at one point that moved me to tears 1/2

[Alec Stapp @AlecStapp]

Fix your labor shortage with this one weird trick