Most entrepreneurs who have tried to compete with Netflix have failed. But Efe Cakarel isn’t one of them. As the founder and CEO of Mubi, he has created a beloved movie streaming service. That’s why I’m excited to announce that Mubi founder Efe Cakarel is joining us at TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin.
Mubi has been around for more than a decade. Back then, Netflix was just launching its on-demand streaming service. It was still mostly a DVD rental company.
Instead of focusing on quantity and mainstream content, Mubi went the opposite direction with a subscription tailored for cinephiles. Every day, Mubi adds a new movie to its catalog. It remains available for 30 days before it disappears from the service.
With this rolling window of 30 movies, there’s always something new, something interesting. The limited selection has become an asset as you can take time to read about each movie and watch things you would have never considered watching on a service with thousands of titles.
More recently, the company started purchasing exclusive distribution rights and even producing its own original content. The service is available in most countries around the world.
But it hasn’t always been an easy ride. A few years ago, Mubi had plans to form a joint venture with a Chinese partner in order to launch a service in China. The company had to cancel the project.
And yet, Mubi is still around after all those years. I’m personally impressed by Cakarel’s resilience and I can’t wait to see what’s next for the company.
Buy your ticket to Disrupt Berlin to listen to this discussion and many others. The conference will take place on December 11-12.
In addition to panels and fireside chats, like this one, new startups will participate in the Startup Battlefield to compete for the highly coveted Battlefield Cup.