http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/28/technology/internet/28netflix.html
The biggest lesson learned, according to members of the two top teams, was the power of collaboration. It was not a single insight, algorithm or concept that allowed both teams to surpass the goal Netflix,……Instead, they say, the formula for success was to bring together people with complementary skills and combine different methods of problem-solving.
The sad thing is that somebody had to put up a million bucks to figure that out.
Sigh.