Pure Software
{{Short description|Software tool company founded 1991}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Pure Software
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| fate = Merged with Atria Corporation
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| successor = Pure Atria Corporation
| foundation = October 1991
| founder = Reed Hastings, Raymond Peck and Mark Box
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Pure Software was founded in October 1991 by Reed Hastings, Raymond Peck and Mark Box. The original product was a debugging tool for UNIX software applications written in C called Purify. After adding new products such as Quantify and PureLink, and doubling its revenue every year for four years, Pure Software went public with the help of Morgan Stanley in August 1995.{{cite web
|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1995_August_2/ai_17119769/
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110214005542/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1995_August_2/ai_17119769/
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=2011-02-14
|title=Pure Software Inc. Announces Initial Public Offering Of Common Stock
|date=August 2, 1995
|publisher=Business Wire
|accessdate=2008-01-10
|url=http://www.secinfo.com/dut49.8J9.b.htm
|title=SEC Info - Pure Atria Corp - 10-K405 - For 12/31/96 - EX-13
|date=March 28, 1997
|accessdate=2008-01-10
|publisher=Fran Finnegan & Company
}} In August 1996, Pure Software merged with Atria Software to form Pure Atria Corporation.{{cite web
|url = http://www.faxmarketing.co.uk/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/26399&EDATE=
|title = Atria Software and Pure Software Become Pure Atria With Shareholder Approval of Merger
|date = August 26, 1996
|accessdate = 2007-12-01
|publisher = PR Newswire Association LLC
}}{{dead link|date=April 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Later in August 1997, Rational Software acquired Pure Atria, giving Hastings the capital to start Netflix.{{Cite web |date=April 7, 1997 |title=Rational merger rattles Wall St. |url=https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/rational-merger-rattles-wall-st/ |website=Cnet.com}}{{cite web |title=Hot Growth Special Report 2006: 29 Netflix (NFLX) |url=http://www.businessweek.com/hot_growth/2006/company/29.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060526220629/http://www.businessweek.com/hot_growth/2006/company/29.htm |archive-date=May 26, 2006 |url-status=dead |accessdate=2007-12-01 |publisher=Business Week}}
When Pure Atria was acquired by Rational Software, it triggered a 42% drop in both companies' stocks after the deal was announced. Hastings was appointed Chief Technical Officer of the combined companiesWall Street Journal. "Investors Pan Rational's Plan To Buy Pure Atria for Stock" by Don Clark. April 8, 1997. and left soon after the acquisition. "I had the great fortune of doing a mediocre job at my first company," says Hastings. "We got more bureaucratic as we grew." After Pure Software, Hastings spent two years thinking about how to avoid similar problems at his next startup, Netflix.[https://web.archive.org/web/20120809073023/http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2007-09-23/netflix-flex-to-the-max Business Week. "Netflix: Flex To The Max" by Michelle Conlin. September 24, 2007.]