Hi there,

People in show business know that even a good story with a star-studded cast can tank at the box office. So unless Netflix had decision-makers with gambling issues, what made the platform bid $100 million for its first original show House of Cards, without watching a single scene? 

 Enter their data analytics team. 

Armed with six years worth of data on users’ viewing habits and preferences, Netflix quite literally predicted the success of their show. Sounds like magic? Nah, it was just math, and numbers never lie. 

If you’ve ever thought your Netflix recommendations were uncannily accurate, you’re not alone. “There are 33 million different versions of Netflix,” said Joris Evers, the company's director of global corporate communications in 2013 when they had 33 million users! 

Even as Netflix boasts of the world’s largest subscriber base of 209 million, you still get to binge-watch content you like. It’s a win-win, and we have the smart people on their customer analytics team to thank for that! 

Metrics are more than mere numbers. They are what you make of them. In this week’s compass, let’s find out if you’re leveraging the right data for your business.