Being an entrepreneur is no walk in the park. It requires grit and determination, paired with a whole lot of luck and a solid skillset. There have been countless of podcasts, books, and films created to inspire aspiring entrepreneurs to forge their own business path. Overall, it’s a challenging pursuit, but the results can be most fulfilling. Here are five drama films that every aspiring entrepreneur can get inspiration from:
5. The Pursuit of Happyness
The biographical drama followed the inspiring story of Chris Gardner, portrayed by Will Smith (King Richard), a single parent and homeless salesman who struggles to make ends meet for the sake of his son. The pair endures a lot of hardships, while Chris grabs every opportunity to find a job. He even ends up settling for a non-paying intern position in a prestigious brokerage firm. The firm teaches aspiring entrepreneurs how to never stop trying, no matter how hard the road ahead gets. Chris’ grit and perseverance certainly paid off in the end when his bosses recognized his efforts, and promoted him to become a regular employee. Dreaming big is not enough— we need to put in the action and seize every opportunity that comes our way.
4. Steve Jobs
The biographical drama about the great innovator, Steve Jobs, portrayed by Michael Fassbender (The Counselor), followed the life and career of Apple, Inc.’s co-founder. The film spanned 14 years of Jobs’ life from 1984-1998, as it aims to give aspiring entrepreneurs an in-depth look on the personal life and business strategies Jobs pursued, which helped propel the company to become the first U.S. company to hit a market cap of $3 Trillion. Jobs changed made the world a better place with each product innovation. He made our wildest tech dreams come true, and made the latest technology readily available at the palm of our hands. He was a great disruptor that changed the landscape of tech. Jobs taught us to think out of-the-box and to continue to be a student of life. As his famous saying goes, “Stay hungry. Stay foolish.”
3. Wall Street
The 1987 film showed us a different side of the finance world set right in the heart of Wall Street in New York City. It starred Charlie Sheen (Two and a Half Men), as Bud Fox, a junior stockbroker who gets entangled in the unscrupulous world of wealthy corporate raider, Gordon Gekko, portrayed by Michael Douglas (The Kominsky Method). We witnessed how Bud transformed from an innocent new kid on the block into a shrewd corporate analyst who was taught how to cut corners. It was all working out smoothly at the beginning until the duo’s misdoings started to catch up to them. The film teaches us that there are no shortcuts in life, and that greed is never a good thing. Get rich easy schemes may sound appealing at first, but its consequences are never worth it.
2. The Big Short
The biographical comedy drama brilliantly tackled the 2007 financial crisis that was triggered by the collapse of the United States housing market. The film used eye-catching visuals to paint a clearer picture and explain the gravity of the situation to viewers. This unconventional method proved to be highly entertaining and had us glued to our screens. We might know by now that history has a tendency of repeating itself, and the only way to improve is to learn from the mistakes of the past. The film showed us the importance of not putting all your eggs in one basket, and to exercise caution in running a business. Too much aggressiveness can get you burned in the end. The financial crisis depicted in the film disproved the notion that some companies are “too big to fail”. Take for example financial giant, Bear Sterns, which was one of the casualties of the crisis, as the company was heavily exposed to mortgage-backed securities that were greatly affected when its underlying loans began to default. At the end of the day, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
1. The Social Network
We witnessed the humble beginnings of social media giant, Facebook, in the biographical drama. The story followed Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, portrayed by Jesse Eisenberg (Now You See Me), as he came up with the early prototype of Facebook during his university days. It was a bewildering journey that was riddled with falling outs and lawsuits that proved to be worth all the challenges at the end. The film taught us success takes time. Zuckerberg did not become a tech titan overnight. It took years and years of hard work and persistency for his innovative idea to breakthrough. Good things take time, and aspiring entrepreneurs can learn a thing or two from Zuckerberg on how he planted an idea and allowed it to grow into the tech powerhouse that Facebook is today.Jesse EisenbergMichael Fassbender
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