Top 10 Movies Every Budding Entrepreneur Must Watch

“Entrepreneur – A person who’s up late working 100 hours for themselves, to avoid working 40 hours for someone else.” 

The life of a successful entrepreneur may seem grande and a cakewalk from the outside, but only a true self-made entrepreneur will know how many night lamps and cups of coffee it took him to build the throne he is reigning on! It takes a lot of courage, to take a stand for oneself and believe in the path that he has taken. 

Hence, here are ten movies every entrepreneur should watch when one needs a little inspiration to keep moving. Some of these are educational, some cautionary, and some are a bit of both, but all of them surely have some important lessons to take back and remember

1.Wall Street (1987)

Wall Street is a great movie to start with and is arguably one of the best entrepreneurial movies of all time. This movie revolves around an ambitious young stockbroker, Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen), who will do just about anything it takes to succeed as he is guided by the nebulous motto “Greed is good.” Suddenly, everything comes to a head when Fox is asked to help do something not only illegal but morally reprehensible. The lesson to be learnt through this movie is to not sell oneself for the sake of money. Being an entrepreneur isn’t just about being rich and famous.

2. Moneyball

This true story is of how Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane disrupted baseball by using computer-generated analysis to recruit players and build a powerhouse team. The movie revolves around his use of overall career statistics – rather than recent performance – to recruit players which revolutionized baseball.

3.Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999)

This classic film shows the beginnings of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates as they built their technology empires in the 1980s. It highlights their rivalry, trials and triumphs, and the different ways the tech founding fathers operated. You will see how a 20-year-old took on a huge corporation like IBM and learn the value of believing in your dream and following through with it no matter what. It doesn’t matter if someone copies your idea. What matters is the execution and how well you do it. Nobody can copy that. And when you’re just starting out, a little competition never hurt anyone.

4.The Social Network

Although largely fictionalized, this account of the founding and eventual success of Facebook is an inspirational story of how true entrepreneurs face challenges. The movie teaches important lessons about the need to be resilient yet flexible enough to change direction when needed.

5.The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

This amazing movie might not have won Leonardo Di Caprio an Academy Award, but it sure can teach valuable lessons about success, fame, fortune, greed and respect for law, which every entrepreneur needs to know. As Belfort says, “The only thing standing between you and your goal is the bullshit story you keep telling yourself as to why you can’t achieve it.” However, with achieved goals, money, power, fame, women and drugs comes many temptations that can jeopardize your success. 

6.Jerry Maguire (1996)

Jerry Macquire tells the story of a highly successful sports agent who seemingly has it all but comes to realize that a career built solely around money and success is an empty one. He comes to question the value of his work and his life and gives it all up for a chance to follow his dream of working as an independent agent who values client relationships above simply getting richer. A lesson on how following your dream can be much more fulfilling than simply chasing money.

7.Office Space (1999)

Hate your 9-5 job? Then this movie is perfect to make you plunge into entrepreneurship. It revolves around Peter Gibbons (Ron Livingston), who discovers how much he hates sitting inside a cubicle every weekday, taking orders from his creepy boss Bill Lumbergh (Gary Cole). If there’s ever a film that will make you laugh, give you a refreshing new outlook on life, motivate you to get out of a desk job you hate and fire you up to pursue a venture that you truly love, then this is it!

8.Limitless (2011)

This thrilling film is about a struggling writer, Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) who will teach you something about taking shortcuts, quick fixes and the easy path to success. When faced with unemployment and his girlfriend’s rejection, Eddie is sure he has no future! However, that all changes when an old friend gives him a mysterious pill that allows him to access 100% of his brain abilities. Stoked on the untested drug, Eddie rises to the top of the financial world, but terrible side-effects and a dwindling supply threatens to collapse his house of cards. 

9.The Godfather (1972)

This one’s a classic and although most of the people have watched it, it surely deserves to be a part of the list and is definitely an all-time piece of cinema for entrepreneurs. It follows the story of the Godfather and his son Michael Corleone who oversee the growth of a small family business into what eventually becomes the largest organized crime family in New York. Although the path to success in this movie is through illegal actions, this is a must-see for all entrepreneurs who want to learn what it takes to get to the top, and more importantly what it takes to stay there.

10.Steve Jobs (2015)

This movie details on a relatively unflinching look at Apple founder Steve Jobs, on both his success and his failures, and his struggle to keep Apple a leader in tech innovation. Jobs’ story is both inspirational to entrepreneurs and a cautionary tale of what happens when one man becomes the very soul of the business they founded – and what happens when that person leaves the company. Surely a must-see for every entrepreneur.

Do you think we missed out a must-watch movie that would help entrepreneurs?  Tell us in the comments below; what movie would you add that would help an entrepreneur.