The 2014 Supreme Court decision revolutionized the future of television and potentially the internet.

• In July 2014, Aereo, a web-based TV subscription service, faced an existential crisis after the Supreme Court ruled against it in a copyright infringement case brought by several major broadcast networks.
• The start-up that had raised $97 million from investors, including IAC chairman Barry Diller, had filed for bankruptcy and sold off the scraps for less than $2 million by October 2014.
• Chet Kanojia, the founder of Aereo, learned valuable lessons from his previous experience and applied them to his next start-up, Starry, which is preparing to go public.

CNBC examines the progress of companies on the Disruptor 50 list, 10 years after their initial recognition.

One of my favorite moments in the history of the Disruptor 50 list is when...

Tuesday, June 17, 2014.

Aereo, a start-up that provided a web-based TV subscription service, was included in the list for the second time. Although it is ranked No. 7 on the newly-ranked list, the company faced an existential crisis as the Supreme Court prepared to rule on a copyright infringement case brought against it by the major broadcast networks.

Chet Kanojia, CEO of Aereo, was interviewed on CNBC's "Squawk Box" and was asked about the potential outcome if the case against his company does not go in their favor.

Kanojia answered, “I don’t know.”

Andrew Ross Sorkin, taken aback, inquired, 'Is that a negotiating stance?' He queried, 'Are you suggesting that if the judges reject this approach, we have no alternative?'

"If we don't succeed in creating a free open platform, we won't succeed," Kanojia stated.

In less than two weeks, we learn that Kanojia was being completely truthful. The Supreme Court rules against Aereo, and by October 2014, the start-up that had raised $97 million from investors including, most notably, IAC chairman Barry Diller, had filed for bankruptcy and sold off the scraps for less than $2 million.

Seven years after Aereo's shutdown, Kanojia is preparing to launch Starry, a company that offers affordable wireless internet to residential customers. Had Aereo survived, Starry would have been a complementary product to the Aereo platform.

Kanojia stated in an interview that the new venture involves the same group of individuals continuing their journey. He appeared calm, self-assured, and deeply contemplative about the insights he gained from the Aereo experience.

Aereo's failure was not due to a faulty founder, a product that didn't meet expectations, overspending, or a lack of customer demand.

Kanojia recalls that during Aereo investor meetings, they presented the idea as a binary risk, similar to a drug discovery company that believes it will be successful if it receives FDA approval and unsuccessful otherwise. There was a 50% chance of approval, and they would wait a day after signing documents before contacting investors to confirm their decision before cashing the check.

Kanojia acknowledges that Aereo could have taken a different approach to avoid its failure.

We did not expect it to reach the Supreme Court so quickly. I wanted a swift, definitive response, but I thought it would take three to four years, not the unexpected 18 months.

Kanojia believes that if he had more time, he could have built a larger customer base. He also considers not launching in Washington, D.C. before the case reached the Supreme Court a significant error.

If we had launched in D.C. and all of the justices' clerks and people involved in the machine had access to the product, they would have developed a positive attitude towards it. However, the Supreme Court decision was based on an unfounded legal argument, which was essentially "we don't like Aereo." There was no factual basis for it.

Kanojia reflects on Aereo's successes and missteps, and believes that the overall experience helped him maintain investor trust and recover quickly.

Despite facing legal battles, our team successfully executed Aereo and gained 600,000 users and 120,000 customers in just 18 months. Our product was beautiful and worked, which helped set the stage for our team's success.

Starry, a satellite internet company, announced plans to go public through a reverse merger with a SPAC backed by Firstmark Capital, which was the lead investor in Aereo's seed round and reunited with Kanojia in 2016 to lead Starry's Series B round of funding. The deal, reportedly valuing Starry at $1.6 billion, is expected to close by the end of this quarter.

Unlike Aereo, Starry's future success will not solely depend on a binary set of risks. Rather, it will hinge on building a loyal customer base and surviving intense competition for both customers and wireless spectrum, with competitors having much greater financial resources.

Kanojia doesn't seem to mind. "They weren't competitors in the Aereo days," he smiles. "They were just the enemy."