Even though Netflix was on the edge of glory at the time, co-founder Reed Hastings doubted how well his partner Ted Sarandos could deal his hand for series “House of Cards.”

Hastings recalled to Variety how Sarandos was determined to rival HBO with prestige TV, and start producing original series beginning with auteur David Fincher’s “House of Cards.” The series, which debuted in 2013 on Netflix, was in the midst of a bidding war due to the high profile talent attached: Fincher was producing and directing the first two episodes, with Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright leading the remake of the BBC miniseries. To land the show as a tentpole series, Sarandos had to swing big — something that Hastings was hesitant to agree with.

Sarandos told Fincher that Netflix would commit to spending $100 million on the series and greenlight it for two seasons before a pilot had even been shot.