10 Must-watch Movies & Seasons for Entrepreneurs

When you are stuck, sometimes all you need is a little motivation and inspiration. Get introduced to your friend in helping to do so – motivational movies. Movies and Shows are a great way to learn from others in the form of stories whether fiction or non-fiction. There’s a lot to be learned from these stories as they show you how exceptional people who have come before you have done it.

1- The Profit

“High Performance, High Reward, Low Performance, there’s the door” - Marcus Lemonis

This show is highly recommended for every entrepreneur, startup founder and business owner as you will get to learn from the thinking and actions of Marcus Lemonis, a successful businessman who saves failing businesses with his own knowledge and experience. He hunts for real failing businesses, analyzes how they can be saved, and then makes an offer that is impossible to refuse in return for equity.

2- The Social Network

“You know what’s cooler than a million dollars? a billion dollars” – The Social Network

It was no surprise that The Social Network was a blockbuster when it was released in 2010 and remains on top for inspiration and motivation because everyone wanted to see how Mark Zuckerberg transformed his life from a dorm room to launching the most popular social network known as Facebook.

P:S I started my first digital agency after watching this movie.

3- The Chef

“I may not do everything great in my life, but I’m good at this. I manage to touch people’s lives with what I do and I want to share this with you.” – The Chef Movie

This movie is based on the journey of a professional chef who quits his job at a prominent restaurant after refusing to compromise his creative integrity and then starts his own food truck business with the help of his friend and son.

• Leverage Social Media and PR to your side: one of the food truck's greatest muscle was the marketing tactics applied to promote the truck using hashtags, geotagging, posting engaging content, and connecting with the audience emotionally.
• Team matters: Carl (the Chef) had the best cook from the restaurant, to work in the food truck. whether it’s building your workforce or choosing your business partner, it is important that they share the passion for what you do and are trustworthy.
• Failure is good: After quitting his job and his reputation ruined, carl decides to start his own business with the food truck, which gains steam quickly. Failure should be your biggest motivation to start your own business. Excuses are for losers.
• Surround yourself with good people: Carl had a hard time deciding to start his own business because of his pride as a professional chef. However, his family motivated him to hit the road with his own business.
• Resources are Limited: This is the first thing you learn in Economics 101. Carl started his new venture the low-risk way, by testing his recipes on the road with real customers.

Word of Caution: Don’t watch this movie on an empty stomach.

4- Wolf of the Wall Street

“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” Jordan Belfort

Based on the true story of Jordon Belfort, sprinkled with Martin Scorsese's direction and a spectacular performance by DiCaprio. This movie is all you need to learn what things money can buy and what it can’t.

Interesting Fact: Lookout for the “sell me this pen” scene in the movie at the end. Jordan (DiCaprio) hands a pen to one salesman, who begins describing it: “It’s an amazing pen…” Not satisfied, DiCaprio takes the pen from the salesman, hands it to another and repeats the challenge. Again, the salesman describes the pen’s finer features and Mr DiCaprio moves on and the credits roll out.

So what is the correct response?

The real response from Real Jordon Belfort is as follows:

“It’s sort of a trick question. Because when you say to a salesman, ‘Sell me this pen,’ you might find someone will say to you, ‘This is a great pen, this pen writes upside down. It defies gravity, this pen is the cheapest pen on earth, and this pen will never run out.’ They’ll say all the reasons the pen is good, they’ll start telling you the features, and the better ones will give you the benefits too. But that’s not what the real answer is.

“The real answer is, before I’m even going to sell a pen to anybody, I need to know about the person, I want to know what their needs are, what kind of pens do they use, do they use a pen? How often do they use a pen? Do they like to use a pen formally, to sign things, or use it in their everyday life? The first idea is that when you say ‘Sell me this pen,’ I want to hear [the salesman] ask me a question. ‘So tell me, how long have you been in the market for a pen?’ I want them to turn it around on me and start asking me questions to identify my needs, and what I’m looking for. And if you do that, people don’t know what to do. Next thing, he is answering, and now I’m controlling the conversation, finding out exactly what he needs.

“Once I have that, I say, ‘You know, Bill, based on what you’ve just said to me, the pen I have here is the perfect fit. Let me tell you what it’s about…’ Then you can tell them about what you have, because you’re filling a need. Most average or newbie salespeople think that they’re supposed to sell you the pen, when a really seasoned salesperson will actually turn it into a qualifying session to find out what you need. That’s the truth of it. It’s like trying to sell someone a house and you don’t know if they’re in the market for a house, what kind of house they want, how many kids – so how can you sell someone a house? That’s the point.”

5- Shark Tank

“All you need is a laptop or a PC and an Internet connection and you can pretty much do almost anything and create almost any type of company.” – Mark Cuban

One of the most successful and popular series on ABC Network. It can really inspire you to start your own business. The sharks are successful entrepreneurs that will invest their own money in good businesses.

6- Yes Man

"maybe sometimes it’s riskier not to take a risk. Sometimes all you’re guaranteeing is that things will stay the same.” – Yes Man

Carl (Jim Carrey) is stuck in a rut with his job, life and love. Then he goes to a self-help seminar and learns to unleash the power of the simple word “yes”. Living in the affirmative leads him to all sorts of amazing and transforming experiences.

Word of Caution: Entrepreneurs should also learn to say “NO” otherwise you will lose your focus by getting tied up with so many things and ending up achieving nothing. I’ll write a complete post to explain this. But for now, you have to learn when to say NO and when to say Yes.

7- The Fountain Head (1943)

“Great Men can’t be ruled” – The Fountain Head

This movie sheds light on following your own vision in life and never conform to the viewpoints and expectations of others.

8- Boiler Room

“And there is no such thing as a no-sale call. A sale is made on every call you make. Either you sell the client some stock or he sells you a reason he can’t. Either way, a sale is made, the only question is who is gonna close? You or him? Now be relentless, that’s it, I’m done.” – Boiler Room

A 1999 movie highlighting a college dropout hired as a broker in a mysterious firm. Emphasizing the life of brokers and how they convince parties to buy penny stocks that were fictitious.

9- How I made my Millions

A CNBC original show where they reveal how everyday people take ordinary ideas and turn them into extraordinary businesses. Businesses that have surpassed the magic number of $1 Million.

10- The count of Monte Cristo

“But I don’t believe in God – it doesn’t matter, He believes in you” – Count of Monte Cristo

You will really enjoy this movie filled with an enduring story of conflict, betrayal, revenge and romance.

I bet you will watch these movies and shows again and again.

Share your list of motivating and inspirational movies in this Twitter thread. Thanks a lot for reading and sharing your views. Keep Growing!