50 free Netflix (Company) trivia questions with answers — science & nature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Netflix began in 1997 as a DVD-by-mail start-up in Scotts Valley, California, offered itself to Blockbuster for $50 million and was laughed out of the room, then turned into the streaming company that invented binge-release television. Along the way it paid out a million-dollar algorithm prize, nearly split itself into something called Qwikster, bought a comic-book publisher and an Albuquerque studio, and started broadcasting boxing and WWE Raw. These 50 questions cover the founders Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph, the Apollo 13 late-fee legend, the 2002 IPO, the Netflix Prize, the move from discs to streaming, House of Cards and Lilyhammer, the international expansion, the keeper test, Fast.com, the Obamas' deal, the ad tier and the failed Warner Bros. Discovery bid. Easy questions stick to the business basics; the expert tier asks about share prices, breakup fees and the people in the original carpool. Every answer is cited to a page we checked, with a short explanation so you learn something even when you miss.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What was Netflix's original business when it launched in 1998?
DVD rental by mail
It also sold DVDs at first, but dropped sales within a year to focus on rentals.
Q 02In which year was Netflix founded?
1997
The founders tested the idea by mailing a CD to Hastings's house to see if it arrived intact.
Q 03What is Netflix's stock ticker symbol?
NFLX
It has traded on Nasdaq since its 2002 IPO.
Q 04Which South Korean drama became Netflix's most-watched show within a week in 2021?
Squid Game
Hwang Dong-hyuk created and produced the survival series.
Q 05Who co-founded Netflix with Marc Randolph?
Reed Hastings
Hastings put in $2.5 million from the sale of his first company, Pure Atria.
Q 06Which series was marketed in 2013 as the first "Netflix Original"?
House of Cards
Netflix had ordered the Kevin Spacey drama straight to series from MRC in March 2011.
Q 07Which country was Netflix's first international market, in 2010?
Canada
Latin America and the Caribbean followed in 2011, then the UK and Ireland in 2012.
Q 08In which year did Netflix shut down its DVD-by-mail service?
2023
Subscribers were allowed to keep the final discs they had received.
Q 09In which year did Netflix launch its streaming service?
2007
At launch it had about 1,000 films to stream against 70,000 on DVD.
Q 10To which California town did Netflix move its headquarters from Scotts Valley?
Los Gatos, California
The company was founded up the road in Scotts Valley.
Q 11For how much did Netflix offer to sell itself to Blockbuster in 2000?
$50 million
Blockbuster's CEO thought the offer was a joke and called the dot-com hysteria overblown.
Q 12Hastings's oft-told founding story involves a $40 late fee on which film?
Apollo 13
Co-founder Randolph has since disputed the tale.
Q 13What was Netflix's ad-supported tier called at its 2022 launch?
Basic with Ads
It launched in 12 countries at $6.99 a month in the US.
Q 14What is the title of Netflix's Formula One docuseries ordered in 2018?
Q 21What name did Netflix briefly give its planned DVD-rental spin-off in 2011?
Qwikster
The plan was scrapped within a month after a customer backlash.
Q 22Which AMC show is considered the first to benefit from the "Netflix effect"?
Breaking Bad
Binge-watching old seasons on Netflix doubled the show's audience by season five.
Q 23What is the name of the Obamas' production company that signed with Netflix in 2018?
Higher Ground Productions
The deal covers docu-series, documentaries and features.
Drive to Survive
It is credited with widening the sport's audience, especially in the US.
Q 15Who was named Netflix co-CEO alongside Ted Sarandos in January 2023?
Greg Peters
The pair took over when Reed Hastings became executive chairman; they split their time between Los Gatos and Los Angeles.
Q 16Which Norwegian drama was Netflix's first foray into original content in 2011?
Lilyhammer
Netflix dropped its entire first season at once, a break from weekly TV releases.
Q 17Early on, Amazon offered to buy Netflix for roughly how much?
$14–16 million
Hastings, who owned 70% of the company, turned it down on the plane ride home.
Q 18In which year did Netflix go public?
2002
The IPO had been delayed by the dot-com crash and the September 11 attacks.
Q 19How much was the Netflix Prize for beating its recommendation algorithm?
$1,000,000
Teams had to beat the in-house Cinematch system by more than 10%.
Q 20Netflix's abandoned "Netflix Player" hardware project was spun off as which company?
Roku
Hastings shut it down so other manufacturers would build in Netflix support instead.
Q 24What is the name of the management rule behind Netflix's demanding culture?
The keeper test
Managers ask whether they would fight to keep an employee; if not, it is time for a generous severance.
Q 25What is the title of Hastings's 2020 book on Netflix culture?
No Rules Rules
It was co-written with Erin Meyer.
Q 26What internet-speed tool did Netflix launch in 2016?
Fast.com
It was praised for being simple and ad-free.
Q 27In which California town was Netflix founded?
Scotts Valley
The idea was hatched while the founders carpooled between Santa Cruz and Sunnyvale.
Q 28After a 2008 database corruption halted DVD shipping, Netflix moved its data where?
Amazon Web Services
The outage pushed the company fully into the cloud.
Q 29Netflix began its European expansion in January 2012 in which two countries?
United Kingdom and Ireland
The Nordics followed in October 2012 and the Netherlands in 2013.
Q 30What was Netflix's first live sports broadcast in November 2024?
A boxing match
Jake Paul fought Mike Tyson; two NFL games on Christmas Day followed.