Movies For Entrepreneurs (Entrepreneur Movies Every Entrepreneur Should Watch)

there are some movies that every

entrepreneur should see at least once

and that's why today we're counting down

the 30 best movies for entrepreneurs

brought to you by watchmojo

wait that's not right brought to you by

john fraser now let's get into it but

don't forget to comment below how many

of these movies you've seen and which is

your favorite

number one the founder you don't build

an empire

off a 1.4 cut of a 15 cent hamburger

you build it by owning the land upon

which that burger is cooked ever

wondered how mcdonald's went from a

single store to a global empire this

film shows exactly that we see the

struggles the successes and enough

burgers to leave you dying for a big mac

by the time the credits roll

here you are

what's this

your food

no no i just ordered and now it's here

you sure

whilst at the heart of the film there's

a dramatic storyline of betrayal the

movie is also packed with business

lessons like how you can use systems to

innovate and the importance of careful

contract negotiations

ultimately though this is an inspiring

story of persistence it's a story of a

guy with a vision who stops at nothing

to make it a reality and so after

watching this you're bound to be left

feeling motivated to go and do the same

number two the wolf of wall street

so you listen to me and you listen well

are you behind on your credit card bills

god pick up the phone and start dialing

this film is a wild ride the

unbelievable yet true story of jordan

belfort's rise and fall directed by

scorsese with an incredible cast what's

not to love

whilst the film might not teach you a

lot about morals it's undeniably

motivating the money the parties the

jets the yachts balfour's journey from

nothing to becoming the wolf of wall

street is bound to get you excited about

building a business of your own and

making more money from a financial

standpoint you are now

in heaven

the thing is it's easy to write this

movie off as purely a cautionary tale

but actually there's a lot that balfour

did right for example the way he built

and trained a loyal team all with the

same vision jordan bells is also now a

sales trainer and in the movie you can

see some of his techniques in action so

amongst the madness there's some

genuinely useful and motivating stuff as

well number three the pursuit of

happiness

don't ever let somebody tell you

you can't do something

[Music]

not even me

this really is an inspiring film as will

smith's character basically loses

everything and has to pick himself up

and work harder and smarter than anyone

else to make a life for him and his son

this movie is perhaps a little more of a

realistic depiction of the struggles an

entrepreneur will have and so if you're

ever feeling close to giving up because

things aren't working this is a

must-watch as it's a reminder you're

just in the middle part of your story

right now

you got a dream

you got to protect it

people can't do something themselves

they want to tell you you can't do it

you want something go get it

period

i've always strongly believed that

personal development and

entrepreneurship go hand in hand and

this film definitely has plenty of

lessons when it comes to

self-improvement and getting that

success mindset that every entrepreneur

needs

number four limitless i knew exactly

what i needed to do

it wasn't writing it wasn't books

it was much bigger than that

[Music]

but it would take money to get there

limitless is the story of a pill that

allows the user to utilize 100 of their

brain power which allows bradley

cooper's character to become rich

successful and everything he dreamed of

i was jacked in booted up

at the end of the week my brokerage

account contained over two million

dollars

word quickly got out

the reason this film's on the list

though is that this pill does actually

exist in real life

it's called hard work

sorry but i definitely find watching

someone being so productive and

achieving so much is a reminder we do

all have the capacity to do that

ourselves the transformation of bradley

cooper's character is something we can

all achieve and watching this movie

might be the push you need to do that

after all you're always just one

decision away from completely changing

your life

number five steve jobs

you can't write code

you're not an engineer you're not a

designer

you can't put a hammer to a nail

i built the circuit board the graphical

interface was stolen so how come 10

times in a day

i read steve jobs as a genius

what do you do

i play the orchestra

yep no prizes for guessing that this

film takes a look at the life of steve

jobs but whilst a few films have done

that over the years this one entirely

focuses on three major product launches

so get ready to go behind the scenes of

the digital revolution and see some of

the brilliance and some of the dark side

of apple's co-founder enough for nothing

but think is a verb alright making

different and adverb you're asking

people to think differently and you and

you can talk about the bajas movement

and

in simplicity of sophistication and izzy

miyake uniforms and and bob dylan lyrics

all you want but that thing

looks like judy jetson's easy big oven

as with most movies based on true

stories obviously remember they take a

lot of creative leeway and this isn't a

documentary but a lot of people seem to

concur this was a pretty accurate

reflection of steve jobs and the way he

operated and given how influential jobs

was and how influential he still is to

many entrepreneurs to this day i think

this is an important film to watch and

as you watch keep in mind the famous

jobs quote that the people who are crazy

enough to think they can change the

world are the ones who do number six

fire the greatest party that never

happened

we're gonna throw a festival here

within 48 hours

they sold out these guys are either

completely full of [ __ ] or they're the

smartest guys in the room

okay little confession this is the only

entry on the list which isn't

technically a film it's a documentary

but it's the length of a film and to be

honest it feels like a movie this is not

your typical dull documentary it's a

seriously entertaining look at the

absolute disaster that was fire festival

without giving too much away if you

haven't heard much about it firefest was

billed as a luxury new festival which

doesn't quite go to plan

however you've probably heard before

that we often learn more from the

failures than the successes which i

think is true

but if we can learn from someone else's

failures and avoid those mistakes

entirely that's even better right

there's mattresses all over the place

getting soaked the save yourself mode

kicked in right it's a free-for-all

having said all that at university i did

an entire presentation on why the

marketing for firefest was actually

genius

because the fact is that despite the

actual event being terrible they managed

to sell all of these luxury event

tickets extremely quickly which shows

the marketing was the one thing they got

right

and that's because they used a really

modern digital marketing campaign

leveraging influencers and social media

to the fullest so as you enjoy the chaos

of the festival watch out for the

marketing lessons as those are very

useful for any entrepreneur number seven

joy we got here from hard work patience

and humility so i want to tell you don't

ever think that the world owes you

anything because it doesn't

the world doesn't owe you a thing

everyone loves an underdog story of

someone battling adversity and this

movie fully delivers on that it's got

jennifer lawrence robert de niro and

bradley cooper and it tells the story of

how a real-life entrepreneur joy spotted

an opportunity created a solution and

worked tirelessly to build a hugely

successful business

but i was fortunate enough to get on the

phone with mr christopher who i found to

be very friendly

which was surprising because i really

haven't found the gentleman in

california to be very nice considering

role and business together

welcome to the world of business i guess

it's a great film for entrepreneurs it's

not only does it show someone building a

business it shows that a good idea alone

isn't enough you have to make it happen

joyce throws everything she can into it

which makes for another motivating movie

if you have plans to grow your own

business or want to have an impact on

the world number eight the aviator

you want to go to war with me

it isn't me howard it's the united

states government

before watching this film i knew pretty

much nothing about howard hughes but

after watching i was fascinated by him

the description of him is that he was an

american business magnate investor

record-setting pilot engineer film

director and philanthropist known during

his lifetime as one of the most

financially successful individuals in

the world

this movie takes a look at many of those

different pursuits whilst also showing

the demons that plagued him along the

way

well i'm only a private citizen

whereas you are a senator

with all sorts of powers

i think this goddamn circus has gone on

long enough i can honestly say that this

movie has had an effect on me after

watching it very recently i made a

business decision i wouldn't have made

if it weren't for this film i was gonna

be more cautious with something but i

thought back to howard's entrepreneurial

attitude of making his vision a reality

no matter what it takes and fully

committing and going all in because

after all those kind of risks are a huge

part of entrepreneurship and so this

movie is bound to help you start

thinking more entrepreneurially as well

number nine nightcrawler

but the protagonist lou is actually very

entrepreneurial

number 10 is boiler room become an

employee of this firm you will make your

first million within three years boiler

room is another great film about sales

with some interesting cold calling

tactics

however there are several motivational

speeches about making money which will

probably get you very fired up and

wanting to build something huge and

successful yourself

if you've seen wolf of wall street and

enjoyed it i'm pretty confident you're

going to enjoy this one too in fact

boiler room is very loosely based person

wanting to make money and be successful

can enjoy this

ultimately though boiler room is a

cautionary tale about making the right

decisions which is perhaps an important

reminder for any entrepreneur number 11

molly's game you know how many witches

were burned in sale how many none

they didn't burn witches it's a myth

they hanged them whilst this is another

true story with corruption and drama at

the heart of it i think this is an

underrated film which shows how 26 year

old molly bloom ended up running the

most exclusive high stakes underground

poker game in the world

there's 750 000 on the table

diego burns a card and deals a turn

[Music]

a king there's undeniably several key

lessons for entrepreneurs in the way

molly ends up getting to that point and

seeing someone so quickly transform

their life and start making incredible

money reminds us all of what's possible

and how quickly everything can change

however there's also enough drama to

make this a very entertaining film as

well i don't actually hear this movie

talked about often but i think you'll

enjoy it now we've still got lots of

amazing films to come but as a little

reward and just to make sure i've still

got your attention here's margot robbie

in a bubble bath to explain this is a

clip from number 12 the big short

so how many people have you talked to

about this trade a few

there's definitely some interest oh my

boss would have my ass yeah crazy

get lost

you

this movie manages to explain the

financial crash of 2008 while still

being entertaining seriously but aside

from a great cast and some fun ways of

explaining typically boring concepts the

movie also focuses on how several people

predicted and hugely profited from the

financial crisis showing that there's

always opportunities for those willing

to look for them you smell that what is

that

what what's that smell

a cologne

no

opportunity

no money

what's often overlooked is that part of

the definition of being an entrepreneur

is being willing to take risks and

that's exactly what the main characters

in this movie do all of which are based

on real people they literally bet

against the housing market and despite

getting mocked and everyone thinking

they're crazy they have the conviction

to see it through

this is definitely an insightful movie

that will leave you with some

interesting takeaways number 13

war dogs

you guys came in 53 million dollars

lower than the nearest competition

[Music]

oh okay

wardogs is another entertaining film

based on a true story stuffed with some

real life business lessons so much so

that i actually did an entire video

analyzing some entrepreneurial takeaways

from the movie but if you haven't yet

seen war dogs it's the crazy story of

how two guys become international arms

dealers

it turns out there's literally a public

website where the u.s government list

everything they need to buy and these

guys started small and worked their way

up to supplying some eye-wateringly huge

deals to the government

come on is everybody going

i thought we're gonna hang out

there's definitely a feeling in this

movie of how the little guys can take on

the big guys and win but as with most of

the movies on this list the story is a

lot more dramatic than that it's got all

kinds of tension and drama and when you

remember it's based on a true story it

makes it all the more exciting

if you've already seen war dogs and

enjoyed it i'd also check out lord of

war for another entertaining film around

a similar premise

number 14

chef

dad got me a knife he says i love you

what

i love you

i love you too

[Music]

tell him i love you too

after a head chef is fired unfairly he

decides to start his own business with a

food truck to reignite his passion for

cooking and goes on a road trip

for anyone who's ever wanted to quit

their job and just do their own thing

you're probably gonna enjoy this one

it's another film on this list which

will undoubtedly make you hungry but

it's a nice family film about following

your true passion i get to touch

people's lives with what i do and i love

it and i want to share this with you a

great detail in this film is how the

main character's 10 year old son plays

an instrumental role in the business by

leveraging social media to help get the

business more attention overall though

it's a feel-good movie that'll leave you

feeling motivated about starting an

enterprise of your own

number 15 pirates of silicon valley

what's with the pirates done

oh what do i always tell you better to

be a pirate than join the navy you

pirate oh yeah yeah absolutely steve

i've been up for 52 hours straight

loyalty this film shows the humble

beginnings of steve jobs and bill gates

building their tech empires

not only is it an interesting look at

their rivalry and origins it also shows

a lot of useful and inspiring business

lessons like how a 20 year old took on a

giant like ibm and quite literally

changed the world

the ultimate

insanely great

fusion of art and science

it's called the macintosh

this is definitely not the lisa as

mentioned previously there have been a

few films that take on a similar subject

but this movie seems highly regarded as

one of the best and got some really

great reviews but most of all i think

this movie is a reminder of what's

possible it's not too late to make your

mark on the world as well and this film

may just give you some confidence and

motivation to go and do that

number 16 the social network

how about now you're still wired in

security you wish for 24 million new

shares of stock

directed by david fincher this movie is

based on the true story of how mark

zuckerberg played here by jesse

eisenberg created facebook or stole

facebook depending on how you want to

look at it because at the heart of this

film is the conflict of whether

zuckerberg stole the idea from the

winklevoss twins however what's

undeniable is that facebook now has

billions of monthly active users so

seeing how it all began from a college

dorm room is surely inspiring for any

entrepreneur how quickly your whole life

can change because zuckerberg literally

became a billionaire by 23.

you signed the papers you set me up

you're gonna blame me because you were

the business head of the company and you

made a bad business deal with your own

companies it's gonna be like i'm not a

part of facebook it won't be like you're

not a part of facebook you're not a part

of facebook my name's on the masthead

you might wanna check again as well as

being a motivating and interesting look

at the origins of facebook the movie's

packed with real life lessons for

entrepreneurs so much so that i made a

video dedicated to some of those such as

the importance of not prioritizing

profit right away if you want to scale

quickly

you can check out the full analysis

after this list is complete but don't go

anywhere yet because next up is an

absolute classic

number 17 forrest gump

my name is forged forest gump

do you want a chocolate

this tom hanks film is regarded by many

as one of the greatest films of all time

it's the story of a humble man with

noble intentions who accidentally

becomes incredibly successful from

living his life the best way he knows

how he wins prizes becomes a

professional ping pong player takes up

running and even starts a million dollar

shrimp company

my mom always said

life was like a box of chocolates

you never know what you're gonna get

whilst forrest was many things he's not

exactly your typical entrepreneur so why

is this on the list

well the way forrest tries his hand at

so many things approaches things so

positively and gives it his all those

are all key to any entrepreneur it's an

inspiring film about what one person can

accomplish and how just like forrest

you've got to keep on running

number 18 moneyball

okay

people who run ball clubs they think in

terms of buying players

your goal shouldn't be to buy players

your goal should be to buy wins

this film is all about strategy and

shows the importance of data and clever

planning in the movie brad pitt's

character has to build a winning

baseball team despite losing their best

players to competitors and having far

less money

been on the job long first job in

baseball

[Music]

it's my first job

anywhere

wow congrats thank you

first job whose nephew are you

it's an underdog story that reminds us

that if we're innovative and strategic

enough we can all go up against the big

guys and win

even if you have zero interest in

baseball you can still enjoy the ride

with this film and it may even get you

thinking about how you could approach

things a little differently in your own

business

number 19 middlemen

you're not [ __ ] with that thing are

you no man those are subscribers

i'm getting rich

[Music]

middlemen is the story of jack harris

one of the pioneers of internet commerce

as he wrestles with his morals and

navigates a sea of con men mobsters drug

addicts and porn stars despite only

being an hour and 45 minutes all kinds

goes on in this film

it's more about me than my son we all

know what you do for a living you're

dealing pornography i run a billing

company you deal with pornography like

any hotel chain like any satellite or

cable company i i'm just a middle i'm

not gonna play semantics with you you're

a pornographer you pedal pornography

over the internet at the heart of it all

though is two guys who come up with the

idea to accept credit card payments via

the internet so that they can sell porn

as simple as that may sound they were

the first company to do real-time credit

card verification online and so they

became the middlemen for countless other

sites looking to do the same thing

once they brought in straight-laced

businessman jack harris to help make the

business legitimate they got to a point

of handling 1.5 billion dollars in

transactions every year it's a crazy

ride and just shows how one idea can

change everything

number 20 blow

you're the man huh

who takes 50 kilos i make them disappear

in one day

actually it was three days

now if you really want an

entrepreneurial story mixed with crime

then blow is for you

starring a young johnny depp it's the

story of a young guy who becomes an

international drug trafficker who ends

up working with pablo escobar although

this film and several others on this

list are about illegal schemes you can't

deny from an entrepreneurial perspective

that there's something motivating about

watching a rags to riches tale of

someone essentially building an empire

and going from nothing to super rich

i'll teach you how to smuggle drugs

you don't know dick about smuggling no

drugs oh no

i was arrested in chicago with 660

pounds of grass

i think that qualifies me

so once again it's not a film to look up

to for any sort of moral guidance or

business plan but it is a film you don't

hear mention much these days yeah it's

definitely a film everyone should see at

least once especially if you want to

build an empire of your own

number 21 the internship you got us a

job at google well it's not actually a

job what do you mean not an actual job

well it's an interview for an internship

that has a better than that chance of

materializing into a job this comedy

movie starring owen wilson and vince

vaughn shows two sales guys at the top

of their game whose industry is

declining leaving them unemployed and

out of place in a digital world

so they decide to try and get an

internship at google which as you may

have guessed is harder than they

anticipate

they have their phones now they're out

something catches their eye they want to

take it but then the photo's just

sitting there what if they take that

photo and instantaneously put it out

there on the line and they share it with

their friends that's instagram

the film takes place over a series of

challenges as they try to win an

internship for them and their team

however there's a bunch of reasons this

film would appeal to entrepreneurs

not only is it an inside look at the

culture of google it's ultimately a film

about reinventing yourself in an

ever-changing business landscape

22. glengarry glenross

a b

c a always b b c closing always be

closing

always

be closing

ever wondered why the phrase always be

closing became so popular in sales and

business

probably not but if you did this movie

is the answer and it's filled with

several other sales gems that have a lot

of real world practicality to this day

the money's out there you pick it up

it's yours you don't i got no sympathy

for you you want to go out on those sits

tonight and close close it's yours not

you're going to be shining my shoes the

film examines the relationships and

disagreements happening behind the

scenes of a new york city real estate

office and has become well known for the

powerful monologue given by alec baldwin

in the movie and for that alone it's

worth a watch and it's sure to get you

pumped up and motivated to go and sell

more than you've ever sold in your life

23. wall street

read sun tzu the art of war

every battle is won

before it's ever fought yep i'm talking

about the original wall street movie

back when charlie sheen was a young and

up-and-coming actor instead of whatever

you'd call him now the story is based

around bud fox a young stock broker

who's envious of the incredibly wealthy

gordon gekko and the unlikely

partnership they eventually form

i've been in this business in 69

most these harvard nba types they don't

add up to dog [ __ ]

give me guys that are poor smart and

hungry

and no feelings

you win a feel you lose a few

and you keep on fighting

to many this is one of the greatest

business films and highlights both the

emotional highs and devastating lows of

being a part of the business world

as well as all these films that include

stock brokers you can guarantee there's

a lot of money involved and although

that is inspiring the film is also a

reminder of how essential it is to have

some form of moral compass when it comes

to making difficult business decisions

24. jerry maguire are you ready

i'm ready

[Music]

show me the money

after being fired from his job for

exposing the alleged and legal practices

that exist in his profession sports

agent jerry maguire starts his own

agency he wants to disrupt the industry

and do things more fairly however he

manages to find only one client we want

more from them so let's give them let's

show them your pure joy of the game

let's bury the attitude a little bit and

show them wait

you're telling me to dance after all

these stories of corruption and crime

it's time to root for the good guy with

hardly anyone on his side jerry maguire

is the perfect exemplification of

staying true to your vision and values

and how powerful that can be

25. thank you for smoking smoking is uh

personal freedom that is enjoyed by

countless americans and although i can

no longer smoke due to my injurious

kidnapping i uh i believe in protecting

all freedoms i believe in the right to

live i believe in joey

this film follows the efforts of big

tobacco's chief spokesman nick naylor

who lobbies on behalf of cigarettes

using heavy spin tactics whilst also

trying to be a role model for his son

sony has a futuristic sci-fi movie

they're looking to make cigarettes in

space it's the final frontier nick but

wouldn't they blow up in an all oxygen

environment

probably

but it's an easy fix one line of

dialogue thank god we invented the you

know whatever device

produced by peter phil and elon musk

this unique film definitely packs some

lessons in both human psychology and

marketing which are gonna be very useful

for any entrepreneur if you focus less

on what nick is actually selling and see

how he is selling it it may even help

you consider how you can position your

own products differently and connect

with your market more

26. billionaire boys club

i used you

to con frank

wake up

it's called a convincer

this film got kind of buried when it got

released because of the ordeal with

kevin spacey in fact due to the very

limited release it had the domestic

opening weekend box office earnings were

just

618

the lowest of spacey's career

now i realize i'm not exactly selling it

here but this actually was an

interesting film

it's the biographical drama of a group

of guys in la during the 1980s who

establish a get rich quick scheme that

turns out to be deadly if you've ever

been at all curious about how a ponzi

scheme happens well you definitely don't

want to miss this one i find it very

interesting

are you familiar with the commodities

market mr levin

am i familiar with the commodities

market dean

why don't you tell me

but once again despite the illegal

methods any film where you're seeing

characters build a business and create

so much wealth is bound to get you

motivated about doing the same just

hopefully in more legitimate ways 27.

the intern now i'm gonna ask you one of

our more telling questions for all of

our interns so i want you like this is

the one to really think about okay where

do you see yourself in 10 years

when i'm 80. not to be confused with the

internship from earlier this film

instead stars and hathaway as the

incredibly busy ceo of an online fashion

site and robert de niro is the senior

intern they hire

this heartwarming comedy definitely

proves you can teach an old dog new

tricks in fact the film shows a perfect

balance of the younger and older

generations both teaching each other in

equal measures

i just don't want to think that i can't

do my job and i need an intern to help

me okay you're not going to want to hear

this but i heard women who sleep less

than seven hours a night gained 38 more

weight than women who sleep more than

seven hours a night

what if you're ever feeling like you

can't keep up with all the changes in

business especially with the rapid pace

at which technology evolves you may very

well enjoy this film it's a reminder you

can always learn something new and of

course any movie set in a thriving

internet e-commerce store is always

going to be worth a watch for any

entrepreneur

28. the devil wears prada that blue

represents millions of dollars and

countless jobs

and it's sort of comical how you think

that you've made a choice that exempts

you from the fashion industry when in

fact

you're wearing a sweater that was

selected for you by the people in this

room

from a pile of stuff

if that last movie didn't fulfill your

anne hathaway fix she also stars in this

classic the devil wears prada alongside

meryl streep

on the surface it's the story of a young

graduate who becomes the assistant to

the hugely successful but demanding

editor of a high fashion magazine you

have no style or sense of fashion but i

don't know

that wasn't your question but this is

also a film about power meryl streep's

character commands an entire industry at

her fingertips and there's a lot of

messages in the movie about hard work

knowing your industry and success in

general number 29 risky business

sometimes you gotta say what the [ __ ]

make your move

i beg your pardon

encouraged by his father to start a

small business as it'll boost his

chances of gaining acceptance into

princeton the main character played by a

young tom cruise uses his

entrepreneurial skills to make some very

quick money by leveraging simple supply

and demand by opening a brothel in his

parents house while they're away

[Music]

so how we doing this r-rated comedy may

seem a little dated now as it was

released back in 1983 but it's a pretty

classic film that every entrepreneur

should see at least once as in a weird

way the movie encapsulates what it is to

be a young aspirational entrepreneur

number 30 office space hello peter

what's happening

uh we have sort of a problem here

yeah you apparently didn't put one of

the new cover sheets on your tps reports

oh yeah i'm sorry about that i i forgot

peter a software engineer is tired of

his boring job and being stuck in a

cubicle whilst his boss fails to show

him any appreciation so he makes a plan

with two of his friends to plant a virus

in his company's system

so you're stealing

uh no no you don't understand it's uh

it's very complicated for a lot of

aspiring entrepreneurs one of the big

selling points of entrepreneurship is

the idea of ditching the nine to five

leaving that dead-end corporate job they

hate and just doing what they want to do

and that's why office space is such a

great film for entrepreneurs it'll

remind you exactly why you don't want to

settle for a typical job and how

important it is having your own freedom

now whilst that does conclude our list

of movies for entrepreneurs don't click

away yet

firstly pause this video and let me know

in the comments which is your favorite

out of these 30 movies i'm genuinely

really curious

or if i missed your favorite

entrepreneurial movie comment that below

as well so everyone can go check it out

secondly though if you want some

motivational movies about success i've

put together my top 10 list right here

as there's some really great films that

aren't exactly entrepreneurial but still

very inspiring for any entrepreneur so i

think you'd enjoy these ones too

click right here to go and watch that

video now and i'll see you there thanks

for watching cheers