Top Motivational Hollywood movies every entrepreneur MUST watch

The Social network (2010)

The Social network

The social network was a Hollywood blockbuster released in 2010. It was based on the fairy-tale rise of Mark Zuckerberg and his startup – Facebook. The social network remains on top for inspiration because of its deft storytelling and brilliant background score.

This is a good movie on taking your idea from dreams to reality. The movie also teaches a lot on scaling a company from your dorm room to a Billion users! Although the accuracy of this movie has been questioned, it doesn’t matter, it is a great source of inspiration for all entrepreneurs.

Pirates of silicon valley (1999)

Pirates of silicon valley

The pirates of Silicon Valley is again a well crafted movie basically covering Bill Gates’ success of Microsoft and Steve Jobs’ Apple. Both were no doubt ‘The Best Pirates!’ and this movie says the exact same. The movie is a take on the rivalry between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates since their very early days.

Noah Wyle did a great job in portraying young Steve Jobs in this made-for-television movie.

The pursuit of happyness (2006)

The pursuit of happyness

This is one of my favorite motivational movies and the best movie on never giving up. This movie gives you goosebumps and tears with Will Smith’s amazing portrayal of Chris Gardner. This is a movie based on a true story published by Chris himself as a memoir. It was a best-selling book and also a blockbuster movie. It adds a sense of reality due to the Italian director and no Hollywood cheese!

Never give up, no matter what; is given a shout out in a simple yet effective fashion.

The Shawshank redemption (1994)

The Shawshank redemption 

Oldie-goldie and again, needs to be on the top of the motivational movies list! One of the IMDB’s All-time Top 10 movies. Two imprisoned men bond over a number of years, finding solace and eventual redemption through acts of common decency. The protagonist Andy Duffrene manages to make the best out of a very bad situation(being imprisoned for a false murder) and through perseverance manages to achieve more than he ever thought possible.

“Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.”

Forrest Gump (1994)

Forrest Gump

A beautiful story about a simple man. This is a story about a simple man with good intentions, who accidentally becomes a phenomenal success just by living his life he knows best. He wins medals, becomes a professional ping-pong player, takes up running, owns a huge shrimping company and inspires people all across the country.

The story revolves around the simple nature of Forrest and how he appeals the entire world as he proves that you don’t have to be a genius to achieve something, all that you need to do is just try.

Moneyball (2011)

Moneyball 

This movie is about Oakland A and its general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt). The team is an underdog and also lacks a lot financially. The team has nothing but lowest salary available for players in Baseball. Apart from that, all of his star players are picked up by bigger teams. Now he needs to look at how to create a winning team without class that money can buy.

This movie shows entrepreneurs to take an innovative approach to an existing way of doing business and beat your competition, with little to no money.

The godfather (1972)

The godfather

Again, The Godfather is one of the Top 10 All time hit movies in IMDB and the most critically acclaimed films of all time. This movie is a story about the growth of a small family business and fighting off opposition at any expense, how it changes through time until the business becomes the largest organized crime family in New York City.

The father and his son Corleone are the brains behind the operations and they show what it takes to get to the top and stay there. One of the must watch motivational movies for learning to from the masters on how to stay on the top. You don’t have to follow the line of being illegal, but there is still a lot to learn from the movie.

The wall street (1987)

The wall street

This a movie on business and greed. The story is about an ambitious young stockbroker, Bud Fox. He has and does everything in his power to succeed, even that means a little insider trading. Insider trading is a reprehensible crime and yet that doesn’t fear him. He meets with Gordon Gecko and takes over his life with the ‘Greed is good’ motto in doing business.

Rocky (1976)

Rocky

This is a true underdog story of Rocky Balboa who is given the chance to fight the Heavyweight Champ. He has an opportunity in hand to make a better life for himself by going head to head with the challenge and winning the prize.

This movie teaches a lot about the competitive spirit and would inspire you more to get up and beat your competition (not literally!).

Jerry McGuire (1996)

Jerry McGuire 

This is a movie based on a true story, that shows just what it takes to stay at the top. The protagonist is faced with rejection and his people turning their backs on him while making the leap of faith and quitting his full time job. Slowly, he is identifies the best road for him to follow, and ultimately ends up being successful in both business and life.

Startup.com (2001)

Startup.com

Startup.com is an excellent documentary on the internet gold rush of the late 1990′s. This documentary has all the necessary ingredients to learn a few great lessons on the internet bubble. Rise in competition, lifelong friendships on the line and do-or-die ambition all combine to form a deadly cocktail for an internet startup.

Something ventured (2011)

Something ventured

If you happen to be an entrepreneur looking forward to exploring the Venture Capitalists, avenue, this documentary is the right fit for you. Something Ventured is a documentary movie based on the perspective of the Venture Capitalists who were the first in the industry in Silicon Valley.

Boiler room

Boiler room

Although this movie is most likely inspired by the original Wall Street, still here are a few tips for the salesman in you! Inspire the salesman in you with this movie and guide your business to profits. Again, one of the must watch motivational movies for the salesman in you.

Office space (1999)

Office space

Everyone who hates work raise your hands! If you were one, Office Space is definitely a movie for you. Everyone hates work! Who doesn’t? Want a move that will want you to get out of a desk job in the corporate world, then this is it! This is one of the must watch motivational movies for those who hate work.

This movie is about a story on Peter Gibbons. He is the one who can’t help but be promoted as he starts to slack off and do things his way, but there arises trouble as his new careless nature starts to cause him stealing from the company.

Ctrl-alt-compete (2011)

Ctrl-alt-compete

Ctrl+Alt+Compete is one of the documentary movie with the most up-to-date insight into the modern startup industry. Take a look into the Highs, the lows, the harsh realities of the Startup world. This movie is a reality check on the illusions of the Startup industry.