Disney is Playing the Long Game

Matthew Powell
February 17, 2025
Watching Disney+

I remember growing up and watching The Lion King as a kid, completely mesmerized by the story and the music.

I watched it so much that the tape inside broke from endless rewinds and replays. I was devastated when it broke. I begged my mom to get another cassette right away! But I had to wait for the “vault” to reopen for me to get another video cassette of The Lion King. (90s reference for those of us blessed to grow up in the best era.)

Fast forward 30 years...my daughter is watching Disney+ on her tablet while Disney is making billions on the exact same movies I grew up watching. No extra work or costs on Disney’s part. Just a new form of technology called streaming.

Disney is playing the long game. They are sitting on fantastic stories, allowing the tailwinds of the world to carry them forward. Disney is finding value with every passing era of technology: video cassette --> DVD --> streaming.

Disney’s value is COMPOUNDING by leveraging new technologies and staying in the game long enough to see that compounding accumulate.

Disney is staying in the game long enough to get “lucky.”

Luck happens when opportunity meets preparation.

When you and I build for the long-term, we’re embracing the journey of invisible progress.  

If we get enough invisible progress, then we have a chance to get “lucky.”  

Let’s make some invisible progress this week to get some tail winds in the years ahead.

Great things take time. COMPOUNDING requires time.

Onward,

Matt

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