Top 7 Entrepreneur Movies That Still Inspire Today

Hello, Believe Nation! Today I'm going to share with you the 7 movies that I feel every entrepreneur should watch. As we go through each movie, I'm also going to share some of my favorite clips from them, and I hope you guys enjoy. So number 1 is Jobs, and this might be an easy movie for entrepreneurs to get into. You see Steve Jobs, visionary entrepreneur. The thing that I love most about it was the constant drive and push to excel and pushing beyond the comfort zone, pushing beyond what the known limits were to create something amazing. I don't necessarily agree with how he pushed people and how he may have berated people, but it all came from a place of wanting to do something amazing and having a huge impact on the world, which I think as entrepreneurs we could all learn from.

Why exactly are you here?

I'm here to help build the Macintosh.

I'm not sure that that's practical for us. We're actually trying to avoid this project becoming another over-bloated disaster.

Okay, Jeff, you got my attention.

Look, Steve, You didn't want to be involved back when we started this thing, and that was fine by me. I just wanted you to cut the checks. Be involved, just don't turn Macintosh into a measure of revenge for you. Everyone knows about your fallout with Team Lisa, so trust me when I say we're doing fine.

Okay, Jeff. Let's get a couple things straight. We don't do fine. And we don't accept things the way that they are. And we don't stop innovating. Now, your machine lacks power, and your little interface, it needs work. And I'm here to help with that. Now, I'm not trying to take Macintosh away from you. I want you on this team. But you can either get on board or you can get the fuck out. Okay, now we got a lot of work to do, so let's get to it. Bill, you come with me.

Okay.

Um, where we going?

Recruiting.

Shit.

Everything. Is a pressing issue. If we want to make the vision for Lisa a reality, we got to put in the hours and make something grea—

Yeah, but we have a hard date on this software, and I'm sorry, but adding pretty fonts is not going to change that. I mean, Bill?

If you don't share our enthusiasm and care for the vision of this company.

No, no, no, no, no.

I just—

I'm not understanding.

Get out.

What?

Get your shit and get out. You're done.

What are you gonna do?

You gonna fire me?

No!

I already fired you! Why are you still here?

Steve, he was our best programmer in the division.

He's the best programmer that doesn't care about our vision.

Number 2 is The Pursuit of Happiness starring Will Smith. One of my favorite movies as well. And from this, the lesson, the 2 lessons that I learned are: 1, to work hard. Like, he started at the bottom and worked his way up and kept working and kept working and kept working. And the hustle, even though he was homeless and even though he still had to look after his son, he still woke up every day and put in insane hours to make sure that he was progressing and moving forward in the company, where other people who had way more resources and all the reason in the world to excel didn't, but he just had more hustle and drive. The other lesson I pulled was to be yourself. And if you look at the first interview where he goes in for the first time and he tells the story of what happened, it was different, it was unique. And what you're gonna find is a lot of, a lot of times when you're talking to customers or when you're doing interviews, It's always boring, it's always the same. There's no real thing that separates you from everybody else. And if you are yourself, what you'll quickly discover is people will either love you or hate you. And if they don't like it, then it's better to find out earlier so that you don't spend, you know, a period of years working with these people. And if they do like you, then it immediately separates you from everybody else. And so watch for that honesty and watch for that hard work in these clips.

Chris Gardner?

Chris Gardner. How are you?

Good morning.

Chris Gardner.

Chris Gardner.

Good to see you again.

Chris Gardner.

Pleasure. I've been sitting out there for the last half hour trying to come up with a story that would explain my being here dressed like this. And I wanted to come up with a story that would demonstrate qualities that I'm sure you all admire here, like earnestness, or diligence, team playing, to something. And I couldn't think of anything. So the truth is, I was arrested for failure to pay parking tickets.

Parking tickets?

And I ran all the way here from the Polk Station, the police station.

What were you doing before you were arrested?

I was painting my apartment.

Is it dry now?

I hope so.

Jay says you're pretty determined.

Oh, he's been waiting outside the front of the building with some 40-pound gizmo for over a month.

He said you're smart.

I like to think so.

And you want to learn this business?

Yes, sir, I want to learn this business.

Have you already started learning on your own?

Absolutely.

Jay?

Yes, sir?

How many times have you seen Chris?

You know, I don't know.

One too many, apparently.

Does he ever dress like this?

No.

No. Jacket and tie.

First in your class in school? High school?

Yes, sir.

How many in the class?

Uh, 12. It was a small town.

I'll say.

But I was also first in my radar class in the Navy, and that was a class of 20. Can I say something? Okay, um, I'm the type of person, if you ask me a question and I don't know the answer, I'm gonna tell you that I don't know. But I bet you what? I know how to find the answer, and I will find the answer. Is that fair enough?

Chris, what would you say if a guy walked in for an interview without a shirt on and I hired him? What would you say?

He must have had on some really nice pants.

Chris, I don't know how you did it dressed as a garbage man, but you really pulled it off in there.

Thank you very much, Mr. Twistle. Hey, now you can call me Jay.

All right, we'll talk to you soon.

Thanks. I'll let you know, Jay.

You'll let me know, Jay?

What do you mean?

Yeah, I'll give you a call tomorrow sometime.

What are you talking about?

You hounded me for this.

You stood here.

Listen, there's no salary. No, I was not aware of that. My circumstances have changed some, and I need to be certain that I'll be able to assist.

Okay.

Tonight.

I swear I will fill your spot. I promise. Do you know what I'll look like if you back out?

Do you know what I'll look like to the partners?

Yes.

An ass.

A-hole.

Yeah.

An ass a-hole. All the way.

You are a piece of work.

Tonight.

There was no salary, not even a reasonable promise of a job.

Hello, Jesus.

All right, then we're gonna go sell a bone density scanner. How about that? You wanna do that?

No.

Hey, Dad, I'm going pro!

I'm going pro!

Oh, okay.

Yeah, I don't know, you know, uh, you'll probably be about as good as I was. That's kind of the way it works, you know, and I, I was below average. Yeah, so, whoa, so you'll probably ultimately rank somewhere around there, you know. So really, you'll excel at a lot of things, just not this. I don't want you out here shooting this ball around all day and night, all right?

Alright.

Okay. I go here.

Hey, don't ever let somebody tell you you can't do something.

Not even me.

All right? All right.

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.

Hi, Chris.

Mr. Fromm, good to see you.

Nice shirt.

Thank you, sir.

Chris. Good day.

Chris.

Chris.

Sit down, please.

I thought I'd, uh, wear a shirt today, um, you know, being the last day and all.

Well, thank you. Thank you. We appreciate that. But, um, wear one tomorrow, though, okay? Because tomorrow's going to be your first day. If you'd like to work here as a broker. Would you like that, Chris?

Yes, sir.

Good. We couldn't be happier. So, welcome. Was it as easy as it looked?

No, sir. No, no, sir, it wasn't.

Well, good luck, Chris. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Okay, sir.

Oh, Chris. I almost forgot.

Thank you.

This part of my life, this Little part is called happiness.

Number 3 is Moneyball starring Brad Pitt, and this is really about helping you think outside the box. Brad Pitt is in charge of an Oakland A's baseball team. He's— he plays Billy Beane, and this is a team that doesn't have a lot of money, and they're competing against these big guys, and they just lost some of their best players. Players because they couldn't afford to keep them. And so they always had to be innovative and different. And Brad Pitt was super frustrated and upset at how, how the scouts and how the people who are in charge of finding and managing the talent were evaluating their players. And he tried to make everything based on numbers and everything based on, on stats and figures, and not just, you know, how the bat sounds as he hits the ball. And so that That style of thinking really changed baseball and made the Oakland A's one of the teams that everybody wanted to look to. And so that thinking outside the box can really help you as an entrepreneur, because if you do the same thing that everybody else is doing, you're not going to have success. You need to have something that separates you from everybody else.

I like guys like that. They got a little hair on their ass. He looks like a man or a maze, quite frankly. He's got a baseball body. Matty, who do you got? I like Geronimo.

Yes.

The guy's an athlete.

Good player.

Big, fast, talented.

Top of my list.

Clean cut, good face.

Yeah, good jaw.

5 tools guy.

Good looking ball player.

Can he hit?

He's got a beautiful swing, right, Barry?

Ball explodes off his bat.

He throws the club head at the ball, and when he connects it, he drives it. It pops off the bat. You can hear it all over the ballpark.

A lot of pop coming off the bat.

If he's a good hitter, why doesn't he hit good?

He is a good hitter. He'll be ready.

So he's going to be a good hitter when we put him up against big league guys?

Could be a great hitter.

I don't think so.

This kid needs some at-bats. You give him 400 at-bats, he's going to get better.

He can play.

He's hit everywhere along the line.

It's one of our guys.

Okay, let's move on. Artie, who do you like?

I like Perez.

He's got a classic swing. It's real clean stroke.

I don't know, can't hit the curveball.

Well, there's some work to be done, I'll admit that.

Yeah, there is.

He's noticeable.

Got an ugly girlfriend.

What's that mean?

Ugly girlfriend means no confidence.

Okay.

Ah, no, you guys are full of it. Artie is right. This guy's got an attitude. An attitude is good. I mean, he's the kind of guy walks into a room, his dick has already been there for 2 minutes.

Yeah, he passes the eye candy test. He's got the looks. He's ready to play the part. He just needs to get some playing time.

I'm just saying, his girlfriend is a 6 at best. Look, if we're trying to replace Giambi, this guy could be it.

I agree, yes.

La la la la.

Damn, Billy, was that a suggestion?

Guys are just talking. Talking la la la la la like this is business as usual.

It's not.

We're trying to solve the problem here, Billy.

Not like this, you're not. You're not even looking at the problem.

We're very aware of the problem.

I mean—

Okay, good. What's the problem?

Look, Billy, we all understand what the problem is. We have to replace— Good, what's the problem? The problem is we have to replace 3 key players in our lineup.

What's the problem?

Same as it's ever been. We've got to replace these guys with what we have existing.

No, what's the problem, Barry?

We need 38 home runs, 120 RBIs, and 47 doubles to replace.

The problem we're trying to solve is that there are rich teams and there are poor teams. Then there's 50 feet of crap, and then there's us. It's an unfair game. And now we've been gutted, like organ donors for the rich. Boston's taken our kidneys, Yankees have taken our heart, and you guys are sitting around talking the same old good body nonsense like we're selling jeans, like we're looking for Fabio. We got to think differently. We are the last dog at the bowl. You see what happens to the runt of the litter? He dies.

Billy, that's a very touching story and everything, but I think we're all very much aware of what we're facing here. You have a lot of experience and wisdom in this room. Now, you need to have a little bit of faith. Have faith and let us do the job of replacing Giambi.

Is there another first baseman like Giambi?

No, not really.

No.

And if there was, could we afford him?

No.

Nope.

Then what the fuck are you talking about, man? If we try to play like the Yankees in here, we will lose to the Yankees out there.

Boy, that sounds like fortune cookie wisdom to me, Billy.

No, that's just logic.

Who's Fabio?

It's a shortstop.

He's a shortstop from Seattle.

Now, this is no time to push the panic button. Billy, our scouts are gonna find players, our player development's gonna develop 'em, we're gonna teach 'em how to play Oakland A's baseball. Billy, with all due respect, we've been doing this for a long time. Why don't you just let us be responsible for replacing Giambi with who we know that can play?

Number 4 is Any Given Sunday. And I'll admit, this movie is not the greatest movie of all time. I just really love the motivational speech that Al Pacino gives close to the end of it. And I remember in my first days of starting the business, I would play that speech probably at least a couple times a day to get me fired up and excited. And so if you don't want to watch the whole movie, Just make sure that you pay attention to Al Pacino's motivational speech.

I don't know what to say, really. 3 minutes till the biggest battle of our professional lives. All comes down to today. Either we heal as a team, we're gonna crumble. Inch by inch, play by play, till we're finished. We're in hell right now, gentlemen. Believe me. And we can stay here, get the shit kicked out of us, or we can fight our way back into the light. We can climb out of hell. One inch at a time. Now, I can't do it for you. I'm too old. I look around, I see these young faces, and I think— I mean, I made every wrong choice a middle-aged man can make. I, uh, I pissed away all my money, believe it or not. I chased off anyone who's ever loved me. And lately, I can't even stand the face I see in the mirror. You know, when you get old in life, things get taken from you. I mean, that's, that's, that's part of life. But you only learn that when you start losing stuff. You find out life's this game of inches. So is football. Because in either game, life or football, the margin for error is so small. I mean, one half a step too late or too early and you don't quite make it.

One half second too slow, too fast, you don't quite catch it. The inches we need are everywhere around us.

Hell yeah!

They're in every break of the game, every minute, every second.

Yeah!

On this team, we fight for that inch. On this team, we tear ourselves and everyone else around us to pieces for that inch.

Yeah!

We claw with our fingernails for that inch, because we know when we add up all those inches, that's going to make the fucking difference between winning and losing, between living and dying. I'll tell you this, in any fight, it's the guy who's willing to die who's going to win that inch. And I know if I'm going to have any life in anymore is because I'm still willing to fight and die for that inch. Because that's what living is. The 6 inches in front of your face. Now I can't make you do it. You gotta look at the guy next to you. Look into his eyes. Now I think you're gonna see a guy who will go that inch with you.

Hell yeah.

You're gonna see a guy who will sacrifice himself for this team because he knows when it comes down to it, you're gonna do the same for him. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] That's a team, gentlemen. And either we heal now as a team, or we will die as individuals.

That's football, guys. That's all it is.

Now, what are you gonna do?

¡Hey!

Number 5 is Ronin starring Robert De Niro. And this movie is probably best known for the car chase scene that they had, and it was super famous. And it was okay, I liked it. But the two things that I got most from it, one was the idea of there being amateur night and De Niro was a professional guy and he was dealing with these amateur teams and he was frustrated at it and he was testing the limits of where they could go and he didn't want to be surrounded by amateurs and he wanted to get paid more for what he was doing. And I think as entrepreneurs we tend to sometimes have to hard carry a situation because we are the best and we're dealing with people who are not great around us, right? And you don't want to be around amateur night. You don't want to have people who aren't at your skill level in what you're doing and you also want to fight to be paid what you're worth. And I think entrepreneurs in general don't charge enough of their value. And so that was the first part that I really liked from Ronan.

What's in the case?

That information is necessary.

Heavy?

Is it explosive? Is it chained to some unlucky bloke's wrist? We're gonna have to chop it off.

All right, but I'm not under any obligation to let you know.

If you are not, then the price has got to go up. I'll get you the case, but the price has got to go up. If it's going to be amateur night, I want $100,000. I want it up front. Up front. I want it in a bank account. I want another $100,000 when you get the case. Okay, we've got shooters here, shooters here. I'll tell you an old trick.

Hey.

What's your problem?

Draw it again.

Draw it again.

You're the ace field man.

Draw it again.

It's a simple diagram.

Just draw it again. Draw what you saw.

Draw it again! Draw it again!

2 shooters. Car comes through here. Shooters across from each other, kill each other dead. Oh my, where'd you learn that, huh?

In a regiment.

What regiment was that? The 22nd Special Air Service. What's the color of the boathouse at Hereford? What's the color of the boathouse at Hereford? I don't like your attitude. The color of the boathouse.

Oh, fuck off!

You got the gun, I'm unarmed.

Do something. Go ahead, do something. Do something. Do something.

Told me about an ambush.

Told me about an ambush.

I ambushed you with a cup of coffee.

You'll get your money when we get the kids.

The others too.

That is what I understood. Come on, we've gotten the word. We're moving.

The second thing I learned from Ronan is really to trust your instincts and trust your gut. And there's a famous scene where he says, "Whenever there is doubt, there is no doubt." And I've used that a lot. I've used both of those lines about amateur night and "Whenever there is doubt, there is no doubt" just as rules to help guide me through my life and the decisions that I'm making in my business. Where if you feel something is wrong and you can't quite put your finger on it, chances are there's something wrong. So whenever there is doubt, there is no doubt.

Under the bridge by the river. How did you know it was an ambush?

Whenever there is any doubt, there is no doubt. That's the first thing they teach you.

Who taught you?

How to remember. That's the second thing they teach you. All good things come to those who wait.

Number 6 is Draft Day, and this is starring Kevin Costner. And I'll give a quick caveat at the start: I went to go see this movie movie with Nina and she fell asleep almost at the start of it. So take all these movies with a grain of salt and see if they're right for you. What I loved about this one, another sports one, is Kevin Costner had the number one draft pick and there was a consensus pick of this guy named Bo Callahan who looked really good on paper and everybody thought he was going to pick him. And instead of picking that guy, he went to go pick somebody that nobody had on their radar but had the heart. And so it's choosing the heart and choosing the hustle and choosing the drive and choosing the passion instead of choosing what looks good and what's smart and the safe thing to do. And I feel as entrepreneurs we often have to make that decision where there's the safe path and the easy path and least resistance and makes the most sense logically, but then there's the heart and the hustle and instead of following a path, we create our own path. And so I love that part of it. And then also there's this really intense negotiation scene at the end which I think entrepreneurs can learn from and how to negotiate deals, where he ends up trading the pick to the guy who had his picks initially. He gave up a lot to get the first pick. And how he does it and how he uses time and then how he asks for something extra at the end. I just really love that movie, All In, especially those two parts about the heart over the head and then that negotiation sequence. So hope you enjoy.

Tom, it's Sonny.

Jesus, Mary, and whatnot. Do I owe you a thank you, Weaver?

Thank you.

Jacksonville's on the clock, and I'm one more crazy shit show from insanity. Can you imagine scoring 3 first-round picks and Bo Callahan? Lord God, let that infant John Carson screw this up.

It's Jeff Carson, Tom, and he doesn't have the pick.

I do.

You kidding?

What? I just made a trade with Jacksonville. I'm on the clock. It's me.

Bullshit.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have made a trade.

The Cleveland Browns now have the 6th pick and are on the clock.

Sonny, what'd you give him?

No time for that. I'm on the clock. I'm gonna pick Bo, Tom, unless you want him more, and if so, let's make a deal.

We still have Bo Callahan?

What the hell's going on, Sonny?

Everyone thinks there's something wrong with kid, but you don't. All right, you've done your due diligence. You're about to pull off the move of the century, but you need my pick to do it. So make me an offer.

You've gone rogue.

You've gone renegade.

Yeah, that's right. That's exactly right. I could have— could have gotten Vontae at 7, but instead I trade up with you just so I can get him at 1. Jesus Christ. You were right about me, Tom. I am a crazy man. So come on, take advantage of it. What are you waiting for? Make me a deal, Tom, at 6, and you get your boy wonder.

What do you want?

I want my number ones back, all of them.

That's crazy.

Why would I give them back?

Because at the end of the day, no one's the wiser, Tom. You haven't lost anything, and you get the quarterback Messiah you've always wanted for $7 million less.

No, no, I can't do it. I look like an idiot, like I panicked. You take them. You obviously don't want to. I'll stick with my draft picks.

Yeah, but you want them, Tom, don't you? Seahawks fans want a hero, and you denied them.

Not that bad.

Don't lie to me. I checked all the Seahawks fan blogs and chat rooms. They're all calling for your head. Ever since you traded away Callahan, the barbarians are at the gate.

I don't care about that.

Yeah, you do. You and I both know it. I have the golden ticket now, Tom, and if I give it to you, you get to save Seahawk football in Seattle.

Um, how about I give you number 2 picks?

No.

Mm-mm-mm-mm.

No, I want my picks back, all of them. I want all 3 years of this team's future back.

That's not fair.

Well, you want to cry about it, Tom, or you want to make a little magic before the clock runs out on both of us? $7 million, Chief, that solves our salary cap problem.

We're still gonna give the fans what they want.

Okay, screw it. No more offer. It's off the table, Tom. I'm taking Kaepernick.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

No, no.

Hey, wait.

All right, you have a deal. I give you your picks. We have a deal.

What else do we need?

Uh, special teams.

Putney, get Putney.

Yeah, save it.

Putney. Yeah. Hello, Sonny?

I'm sorry, that deal's now off the table.

What?

We live in a different world than we did just 30 seconds ago.

Come on.

What?

What do you want now?

I want my picks back, and I want David Putney. I need a punt returner.

Where the hell'd that come from?

It doesn't matter. I want all my picks back, and I want David goddamn Putney just because I feel like it.

You're out of your mind.

Yeah, I am. Haven't I proved that already? You make this deal right now, Tom, and you get Bo Callahan. Say it with me: you get Bo. Come on, Tom, say it with me, you pancake-eating motherfucker.

All right, shit.

Deal.

Great, you're welcome.

You found the truth.

God damn it, I love this job.

And number 7 is Seabiscuit, one of my favorite movies of all time. It's about this horse and this jockey and this owner and this trainer who nobody believed in. This is, this is a Believe movie. If you like Believe, you're gonna like the movie. I've seen it, I don't know, at least 20 or 30 times, about all these people and this one horse who came together and fixed each other and created this team of misfits that nobody thought would ever win. Like, only having— if you have one bad part, people will count you out. But they had 4 bad parts, but they all came together and they made it work. Just again showing you that when you have heart, when you have drive, when you have commitment, when you really want to make something work, when people have been beating you down telling you that it can't work, not always the logical answer is the one that's gonna win out. And because of that drive and passion and determination, they ended up winning. And so, uh, one of my favorite movies of all time. And if you haven't seen it yet, if you're a fan of this channel, you probably like the believe message. If not, you probably haven't subscribed yet. But if you do, I highly encourage you check it out. And here is the closing scene from the movie.

Come on, boy! Come on! Come on! Come on, boy! Ah! Come on! How you doing, Red?

Georgie, you guys all right?

Hey, good boy.

There it is.

Have a nice ride, Johnny.

Come on, pops. Go on with it, Johnny. Go on. Yeah, come on.

You know, everybody thinks we found this broken-down horse and fixed him. But we didn't. He fixed us. Every one of us. And I guess in a way, we kind of fixed each other too.

[FOREIGN] So thank you guys so much for watching. I hope you enjoyed. That's my list of my favorite 7 movies that I think entrepreneurs should watch. I'd love to know which ones you guys Which ones have you seen or not? Would you add anything else to the list? I don't have a lot of the common ones, I guess, that are in most of the other lists, so I tried to do something different. And these are the ones that most resonated with me truthfully, honestly, so that's why I'm sharing it like this. Share your thoughts below, I'm really curious to find out. And finally, I'd like to give a quick shout out to my wife, Nina Carmichael. She bought 5 copies of my book. Thank you so much, Nina, I really appreciate it. For your chance at a shout out in a video, in a future video, make sure you pick up a copy of the book and email in the receipts so that we can keep track. Thank you guys so much for watching. Continue to believe, or whatever your one word is, and I'll see you soon.