Art by El Grand Chamaco

HBO and Netflix are more than just competitors. They are two opposites. Like yin and yang, like good and bad, like communism and capitalism.

Their differences best reflected in their flagship shows. "House of Cards" vs "Game of Thrones".

"House of Cards" was made with Big Data.

Netflix analyzed 30 million "plays", 4 million ratings, and 3 million searches. Based on that Netflix created characters and storylines. As simple as that.

And "Game of Thrones" is the opposite.

Ten years ago there was no data showing that people want fairytales about dragons. All there was is a feeling that it could be interesting. They went with it. And created a cultural phenomenon.

HBO believes that you can’t create a new culture based on historical data.

Apple and Amazon do the same. They research and analyze. But when it comes to making a decision, data is not the only thing they take into account.

Prime econometrics didn’t add up. In theory, any model won’t add up if you get free delivery on a $0,1 bubble gum. But Amazon decided to test it anyway. Now Prime is their future.

Google and Booking believe in a different approach. They rely more on data than on anything else. Before any product launch, they conduct at least 10 rounds of A/B testing and choose the option with the top score.

These are two opposite world views. One is about magic, the other is about data. One is about freedom, the other is about control. There’s no right or wrong. They are just different.