As market volatility picks up, it's a useful exercise to take a look back at stocks which rewarded investors over the long run for sticking through the tough times.

There aren't too many companies over the last decade that are a better example of that than Netflix.

It started as a simple idea in the 1990's to take on Blockbuster and other video rental stores: Monthly subscriptions to DVD rentals by mail. But a strong pivot to digital streaming, and then a remarkable and risky investment in content creation, has turned Netflix into one of the world's preeminent media companies.

And you didn't have to invest in the company right when it had its IPO to make Hollywood-style money.

Netflix was already a household name when it delivered its billionth DVD in February 2007. If you bought the stock then, you would have seen a compounded annual growth rate of 46 percent – more than 5 times the total return for the S&P 500 over the same period.

There were missteps along the way that investors had to slog through.