Must Entrepreneur Movies to Watch
Everybody needs an inspiration boost as often or as regularly as possible. For entrepreneurs, the case is not different. Entrepreneurs are known to be the ‘fix it all’ and ‘master all solutions’ but the same way creatives experience ‘creativity block’ or the common “writer’s block”, entrepreneurs experience a block too.
There are so many places business minded people can acquire inspiration by learning from other entrepreneurs and movies can be great for that. Who doesn’t enjoy watching a movie to unwind? A boost to unwinding is watching a great movie and getting inspired as much as you have fun.
Entrepreneur movies show the lives of entrepreneurs and you get to see the challenges they face, the solutions they provide, and, of course, witnessing it all unfold – from an idea to a million dollar business. What is the story behind their business? What motivated them to go on their entrepreneurship journeys, and how did they get started?
These movies are a good way to borrow new ideas that would work for your business and your entrepreneurship journey.
Thank You For Smoking (2005)
Nick Naylor is the salesperson for big tobacco companies in the US. His job is to lobby on their behalf against public opinion all while trying to remain a role model for his 12-year-old son.
Entrepreneur Takeaways
How to Sell and Idea
Argue correctly and how to negotiate
Changing your business value proposition
The Social Network (2010)
This is the story of Mark Zuckerberg.
With the help of his friend Eduardo, Mark Zuckerberg, a Harvard Sophomore, launches the social networking site Facebook. Despite the fact that the venture is a success, he loses touch with a number of people along the way. He is even accused of stealing the idea from two brothers who are also Harvard students. The movie also shows his conflict with his friend and co-founder.
Entrepreneur Takeaways
Recognize a market need
Create an audience/ your market
Have the right talent and partners by your side
Define your Business Model
Know how scalable your business is
Maintaining your business value proposition
The importance of networking for your business
Challenges of starting a business with friends or family
The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
Chris, a struggling salesman prepares to embark on a life-changing professional career. His wife, fed up with his professional failures, chooses to divorce him, leaving him with an unpaid internship at a brokerage business and custody of his son to contend with.
Entrepreneur Takeaways
Listen to yourself & believe in your vision
Patience & perseverance
Most quests for happiness may never come to an end.
Sometimes Setbacks set us forward
Always give it a try
It’s never too serious
The Founder (2016)
Ray Croc, a dissatisfied but ambitious milkshake mixer salesman from Illinois, is the protagonist of this film. Croc gets the founders of a successful southern Californian burger establishment with a unique manufacturing model (McDonald’s) to franchise the firm before finally seizing full control and transforming it into the world’s most famous fast-food chain.
Entrepreneur Takeaways
Automating your business processes
Defining your Unique Value Proposition
Create your own market or find a market where there is no or little competition
Marketing is king
The Big Short (2015)
The Big Short is an Oscar-winning film from 2015. The film, produced by Adam McKay, follows the lives of numerous American financial professionals who foresaw and profited from the housing bubble’s build up and subsequent collapse in 2007 and 2008.
Entrepreneur Takeaways
Take risks and grab opportunities quick
Research & Research
Look at the numbers and make insights based on the numbers
Work on the your business foundation
Don’t think that the worst cannot happen. Don’t let your guards down.
Jobs (2013)
Steve Jobs and his friend Steve Wozniak co-founded Apple Inc. after revolutionizing home computers. But, as a visionary and a leader, Jobs’ way of working causes him a slew of issues.
Entrepreneur Takeaways
Have a vision
Be innovative
Be different from your competitors
Create your own market
Marketing is king
Startup.com (2001)
Startup.com is a documentary film about two entrepreneurial lifelong friends, Kaleil Isaza Turman and Tom Herman, who decide to launch an internet startup called govWorks.com to assist with the management of various US municipal state activities.
Almost everything an entrepreneur goes through when starting a business is covered in this documentary: getting investment, growing the business, dealing with competitors, handling structural and human problems within the organization.
Entrepreneur Takeaways
Leadership is everything
A clear value proposition
Funding
Allocating your business resources – budgeting etc.
Importance of work life balance for entrepreneurs
Other movies to watch
She Did That (2019)
A look into the lives of black women entrepreneurs who are working to make the world a better place for future generations.
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
Jordan Belfort, who got his start in the fast lane through stockbroking, takes a tumble after a Wall Street meltdown. He joins forces with Donnie Azoff, cheating his way to the top while his personal life falls apart.
Final Thoughts
This list is not exhaustive enough but there are so many movies out there you could watch and draw inspiration from and learn from. Some are old classics such as Wall Street, Silicon Valley, etc. New movies come out every now and then considering the constant revolution of the business world.
