‘So bad’: Netflix’s original name had nothing to do with movies

(NEXSTAR) – Picture this: You’re a Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur in 1997, with plans to pioneer a DVD-by-mail service that would allow subscribers to request their favorite flicks using an internet interface. You’re not sure what to call your fledgling company, but one name keeps springing to mind.

That name? “Kibble.”

Believe it or not, “Kibble” is exactly what Netflix co-founders Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings originally called their company before ultimately — and understandably — switching to “Netflix” a short while later.

Randolph himself once recounted the story on Twitter (now X), explaining that the company initially went by Kibble as a reminder to create a desirable product — not just a flashy one.

“We were concerned about building a service that looked good, but that nobody wanted to use,” said Randolph, who left the company in 2003. “So, we chose Kibble to remind us of the old advertising adage that ‘It doesn’t matter how good your dog food advertising campaign is, if the dogs won’t eat the dog food.’”

Randolph further explained in a 2023 LinkedIn post that he never intended to keep the name “Kibble” through the launch of the service. But it was the perfect placeholder, he said, partly because he already owned the domain Kibble.com (possibly from a previous idea for a company that provided personalized dog food) but mostly because it was so awful.

“Since it’s so hard to come up with a good name, you want to pick a pre-launch name (called your ‘beta name’) that is so bad, that when you get close to launch and you’re starting to get desperate, you won’t just give in and use the beta name,” he explained.

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Before settling on Netflix, the company floated several possible names including “TakeOne,” “NetPix,” “NowShowing” or simply “Flix,” Randolph previously said on Reddit. He claims the company ultimately chose Netflix, despite lingering feelings that “Netflix” sounded too similar to “skin flicks,” a term associated with pornography.

“It wasn’t perfect. It sounded a little porn-y. But it was the best we could do,” Randolph wrote.

Even though they scrapped it before launch, “Kibble” stuck around long enough that it’s still acknowledged by Netflix as the company’s “original name.”

It also stood the test of time, especially after the company entered the streaming arena, according to Randolph.

“Plus, Kibble’n’chill doesn’t really have the same ring to it, does it?” Randolph said.

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