“We call ourselves the 38-year-old startup. We were founded in 1985 — originally a 1-900 phone number, then a fax, then a free website. We launched our subscription in 2001, six years before Netflix. So we're better than Netflix in at least one way.”

The 38-year-old startup — Surfline launched paid subscription in 2001, 6 years before Netflix

Surfline started as a 1-900 surf-forecast hotline in 1985, then ran a fax service, then a free web product, and finally launched paid subscriptions in 2001 — six years before Netflix. Today's success is the cumulative output of four decades of brand and content compounding, not a hockey-stick launch.