Netflix.

Ellisblog!, in a previous incarnation as a columnist for Inside Magazine, wrote what I think was the first column ever written about a video rental company called Netflix.  Back then, the question was this: would Blockbuster and Wal-Mart and Amazon crush Netflix like a bug or would Netflix CEO Reed Hastings manage to float like a butterfly and sting like a bee and somehow emerge victorious? Wal-Mart was the first to throw in the towel. Blockbuster is now on the verge of bankruptcy. Amazon keeps threatening but is focused on other verticals. Netflix, meanwhile, just keeps getting better. It's an amazing company.