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Earn Out Loud

Lately, my friend and I have been buying a lot of Netflix stock.

But the Netflix we’re buying today isn’t the same company investors were buying five years ago.

It’s a really important distinction I want to share with you because it matters, regardless of which streaming company you’re invested in.

Subscriber Maxing

In the beginning, it was all about subscribers.

Since video streaming was a new industry within entertainment, Netflix needed to establish dominance as the new kid on the block.

So, investors measured the company’s success by how many people signed up and how many canceled. Simply put, adding subscribers mattered most.

Their goal was to disrupt the pre-existing cable industry. And to do that, they needed consumers to buy into streaming.

Every new subscription was another sign it was working.

Then, streaming finally won!

Today, Netflix has more than 300 million paid subscriptions, and I can’t even remember the last time I watched cable TV. My kids don’t even know what cable is.

And as cool as that sounds for Netflix’s bragging rights, the number of subscribers they can realistically add today is much smaller, since they've already captured a large part of the market.

So how do investors measure success now?

Profit Maxing

How much money can Netflix make from the audience they already have?

That’s why Netflix increased prices, built an advertising business, cracked down on password sharing, added live sporting events, and started experimenting with video games.

Every one of those changes was an attempt to shift from the old model of maximizing their subscriber base to the new model of maximizing profits.

Netflix made it clear they didn’t want investors focused on subscriptions when they stopped reporting subscriber numbers in 2025.

Instead, my friend and I started measuring Netflix by the exact metrics they’re focused on: revenue, margins, and the overall economics of the business.

Why This Matters to Investors

Netflix’s stock increased 57,888% between 2006 and 2026.

Every technology company follows this exact same process.

When tech is new, adoption is the most important metric. Investors want to know, “Do people care enough to use the technology?”

As the company grows, adoption slows.
So the company will focus less on new subscribers and more on scale. Investors begin asking, “Can it become a massive business?”

When it reaches that scale, the question always changes again. Investors will ask, “Can the company turn that scale into cash and lasting profits?”

Eventually, investors want to know what the company plans to do with all that money. Buy another company? Pay dividends? Reinvest? etc.

The process is always the same, regardless of the tech company or product.

Big Beginner Insight

Every once in a while, look at your investments and ask, “What does success look like for this company today?”

Because it’s very easy to make an investing mistake like finding an important metric and assuming it’ll matter forever.

Keep investing in tech that shapes our future,

-Isaiah Hayes
Linkedin | Website

NVIDIA's Founder Says Farmers Should Absolutely Use AI

“If I were a farmer, I would absolutely use AI.” 

That’s Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. 

And he's pointing to one of AI’s biggest untapped opportunities: Farming. It’s an industry facing mounting pressure to produce more with less and it’s still massively under-automated. 

DIT AgTech brings AI, nutrition automation, and real-time data to livestock production, helping ranchers boost productivity and get more from every animal. 

And it’s already proven in one of the world's toughest livestock environments: 

  • 500+ units deployed 

  • 370,000 head of livestock on the platform 

  • Up to 55% higher daily weight gain 

Now expanding into the U.S. and Brazil, DIT AgTech is targeting a 300M+ head cattle market. And the biggest barrier to adoption? Gone. Ranchers get the technology for free when they sign up for a three-year nutrition plan. 

DIT AgTech can scale adoption faster, which means more data and more recurring revenue. 

Invest before this early-stage opportunity gets harder to access.

𝘐𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘥. 𝘋𝘐𝘛 𝘈𝘨𝘛𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘊 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘣𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦: https://bit.ly/4bzuWCi​  ​

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