Archive - Deliberate Drift

Blockbuster Wasn’t Killed by Netflix

A billion dollars in debt, placed on Blockbuster’s balance sheet before the competitive battle began, made every response structurally unaffordable.

Jul 22 • Dawn Porthouse

Blockbuster Had Netflix on the Ropes

For the full article and discussion: deliberatedrift.com

Jul 21 • Dawn Porthouse

16:08

Costco: The Membership Fee Looked Like a Gimmick

How a warehouse retailer built a structural position that made the product margin almost irrelevant.

Jul 6 • Dawn Porthouse

The Fee Is Not the Business: How Costco Built a $4.8B Revenue Stream That Doesn't Behave Like Retail

Costco Wholesale Corporation collects approximately $4.8 billion in annual membership fees.

Jul 6 • Dawn Porthouse

20:24

June 2026

Netflix: The DVD Business Was Never the Point

How a mail-order rental company made decisions that looked wrong at the time and built infrastructure competitors couldn't easily replicate.

Jun 22 • Dawn Porthouse

Netflix DVD Era: How a Mail-Order Service Built the Foundation for Streaming

The standard Netflix story credits Reed Hastings with seeing streaming coming and building a technology company in the guise of a DVD rental service.

Jun 22 • Dawn Porthouse

15:56

Domino's: The Recipe Change Was Not the Story

How a pizza company spent a decade building delivery infrastructure competitors couldn't easily copy.

Jun 8 • Dawn Porthouse

Domino's Pizza Inc: The recipe change was not the story. It was the cover.

Domino's Pizza didn’t just fix their bad pizza; they built a delivery system that changed the game.

Jun 8 • Dawn Porthouse

19:45

May 2026

Fisker Inc.: The Dependency That Was There From the Start

May 29 • Dawn Porthouse

14:36

Fisker: The Asset-Light Strategy Made Sense

How a clean-sheet EV company built a model that required conditions it couldn't control.

May 29 • Dawn Porthouse

Spirit Airlines: The Low-Cost Model Was Working

How a structurally efficient airline accumulated constraints it couldn't resolve when the environment shifted.

May 20 • Dawn Porthouse

Spirit Airlines: How the Model That Made It Work Became the Condition It Couldn't Survive

Spirit Airlines was the most profitable airline in America in 2014.

May 20 • Dawn Porthouse

16:45

#nojs-banner { position: fixed; bottom: 0; left: 0; padding: 16px 16px 16px 32px; width: 100%; box-sizing: border-box; background: red; color: white; font-family: -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 13px; } #nojs-banner a { color: inherit; text-decoration: underline; } This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please turn on JavaScript or unblock scripts