It’s happened again. You called with the express purpose of leaving a voicemail – a tidy, semi-scripted transmission complete with all the pertinent facts and a tasteful flourish of personality. But now, everything’s coming undone. Instead of the welcoming tone of the voi...

On a spring day in 2000, Reed Hastings strolled into the Dallas headquarters of Blockbuster Entertainment, LLC. Hastings, founder of an upstart entertainment company, had a simple proposition for the video distribution giant. His company, Netflix, would manage Blockbuster’s online offering, while...