25 Best Business Movies for Entrepreneurs: Top Films About Startups & Money

Entrepreneurs are always looking for an edge, a smarter strategy, a better way to lead, a sharper instinct for risk. Surprisingly, some of the best lessons come from film. But not all business movies are worth your time. Some entertain; a rare few sharpen how you think, decide, and lead.

The best business movies go beyond storytelling. They pull you into high-stakes decisions around growth, money, leadership, and ethics, letting you see the consequences play out in real time. Consider them cinematic case studies for founders and builders.

This list cuts through the noise to bring you the best business movies, films with lasting cultural impact, practical insights you can apply immediately, and the kind of rewatch value that reveals new leadership lessons every time. From startup battles and venture capital dynamics to sales psychology and ethical crossroads, these movies about business and money reveal what actually drives success (and failure) when the stakes are high.

If you’re unsure where to begin, start with The Social Network, The Big Short, and Moneyball. A powerful trio packed with lessons on execution speed, incentives, and data-driven leadership.

What Makes a Great Business Movie? (Definition, Criteria & Watch-Value)

People ask what counts as a business movie. The answer is any film where strategy, incentives, and outcomes collide on screen.

In other words, business movies are stories where decisions around money, markets, growth, or leadership drive the plot. That includes founder biopics, finance drama, corporate culture on screen, plus documentaries that feel like real-life case studies.

A great pick also stays useful after the credits. It gives you a decision you can copy, avoid, or pressure-test with your team.

Our ranking criteria (why these made the cut)

• Entrepreneur relevance: Clear lessons on building, scaling, hiring, selling, or surviving failure.
• Decision-making clarity: You can point to the moment the outcome changed.
• Accuracy vs drama: It stays grounded, even when it’s cinematic.
• Quotability: Lines you’ll reuse in meetings and pitch prep.
• Streaming access: You can actually find it fast, without a scavenger hunt.

Want deeper context on how film shapes leadership and culture? Listen to HIH episodes featuring Vivek Ramaswamy on the power of film to inspire change, Tony Robbins on movies as drivers of social impact, and Nicky Jam on legacy and storytelling.

The 25 Best Business Movies to Watch Now (Founder’s Shortlist)

Looking for good business movies? Start here and pick three based on your current challenges.

Bookmark this list. Share it with a cofounder or your team. When you want entrepreneurial inspiration without motivational noise, HIH is the hub you come back to.

1) The Social Network (2010) - Startup Execution & Founder Dynamics

Category: startup movies, founder biopic

This is the cleanest on-screen lesson in product velocity, equity tension, and cofounder alignment. You’ll see how speed can win markets, then quietly burn trust.

Lessons to steal:

• Move fast, but lock alignment early (roles, equity, decision rights).
• Protect your “who owns what” story as aggressively as your MVP-to-scale roadmap.
• Build trust like a feature, not a slogan.

2) The Big Short (2015) - Incentives, Risk & Second-Order Effects

Category: finance drama, movies about business and money

A group of outsiders bet against the U.S. housing market by uncovering the unsustainable mortgage bubble. It takes complex finance and turns it into a universal business lesson: incentives shape behavior, and misaligned metrics can blow up an entire market.

Lessons to steal:

• Follow incentives, not narratives. If a system rewards bad behavior, expect bad outcomes.
• Do real due diligence. Independent thinking beats consensus when the crowd is paid to look away.
• Watch second-order effects, the downstream damage that shows up after “growth” looks great.

3) Moneyball (2011) - Data-Driven Leadership & Culture Change

Category: data-driven strategy, business management movies

Best business movie about management? The answer: Moneyball. 

The movie follows Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane, who uses statistics to build a winning baseball team on a shoestring budget. It shows how to replace gut feel with KPIs, process, and disciplined hiring, even when everyone around you clings to “how it’s always done.”

Lessons to steal:

• Turn opinions into measurable inputs (KPIs, repeatable evaluation).
• Hire against bias by defining what “good” looks like in data.
• Expect resistance, then stack small wins until the culture shifts.

For a deeper dive into data-driven leadership, Harvard Business School’s case method shows how top operators translate metrics into a winning strategy.

4) The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) - Sales Culture & Ethical Boundaries

Category: sales and persuasion, cautionary movies about business and money

Martin Scorsese’s frenetic film follows Jordan Belfort’s pump‑and‑dump stock‑selling scheme. It’s a masterclass in sales energy and training systems, paired with a loud warning about compliance risk and toxic incentives. Watch for the mechanics, not the chaos.

Lessons to steal:

• Scripts, objection handling, repetition, and coaching.
• Incentives shape behavior fast, and they can destroy trust faster.
• Short-term wins are expensive when your culture turns predatory.

5) Wall Street (1987) Greed, Mentorship, and Market Psychology

Category: corporate culture on screen, finance drama, films about business

Bud Fox, an ambitious stockbroker, falls under the sway of corporate raider Gordon Gekko. It’s a timeless look at ambition vs integrity, plus the real drug on Wall Street: information edges and the people who control them.

Lessons to steal:

• Mentorship shapes your standards fast, so pick mentors with guardrails.
• Information is power, but shortcuts create legal and reputational debt.
• Build a value line you will not cross, then enforce it even when money is loud.

6) Margin Call (2011) Crisis Decisions Under Uncertainty

Category: risk management, business management movies, movies about business and money

Over a single night, employees at a Wall Street firm discover their mortgage holdings are worthless. It shows what a real crunch feels like: time-boxed choices, incomplete info, and downside math that forces leadership to pick a “least bad” option.

Lessons to steal:

• Know your downside exposure before the market forces the audit.
• In chaos, clarity beats charisma: communicate in layers, keep messages consistent.
• When incentives reward denial, reality still collects payment.

7) Boiler Room (2000) Sales Scripts, Pressure, and Compliance

Category: sales ethics, movie about making money, sales and persuasion movies

Seth Davis joins an underground brokerage firm that promises fast money but hides a dark secret. It breaks down hype selling: scripts, pressure, manufactured urgency, plus the reputational fallout when the funnel is built on deception.

Lessons to steal:

• Scripts work, but value-based selling survives longer than manipulation.
• Incentives can turn a team toxic overnight, so design compensation with ethics baked in.
• Compliance is not a checkbox. It is protection for your brand and your future.

8) Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) Incentives, Quotas, and Morale

Category: sales pressure, sales and persuasion movies, movies about business

David Mamet’s adaptation follows real estate agents under intense pressure to close deals. It’s a raw look at how leaderboard pressure warps behavior. Bad leads plus brutal quotas do not create killers; they create liars, burnout, and churn.

Lessons to steal:

• Quotas without a quality pipeline poison morale and ethics.
• Incentives should reward customer outcomes, not just closes.
• Use the pressure scenes as prompts: Are your targets fair, and do reps have a real path to hit them?

9) The Founder (2016) Franchising, Ops, and Scale

Category: franchising strategy, ops, best films about business

The biographical drama portrays Ray Kroc turning the McDonald brothers’ small burger stand into a fast‑food empire. This is systems thinking on screen. You’ll see how scale comes from process, vendor leverage, and contract nuance, not charisma.

Lessons to steal:

• Scale requires standardization: process, training, and quality control.
• Vendor and real estate strategy can become the real business model.
• Growth can trigger value drift, so define the line you will not cross before the line gets tested.

Founders navigating growth can deepen their operational playbook with resources from the U.S. Small Business Administration Learning Center, which offers practical frameworks for scaling sustainably.

10) Steve Jobs (2015) Product POV and Launch Storytelling

Category: product launch storytelling, founder biopic, startup films

Rather than a cradle‑to‑grave biopic, this film revolves around three pivotal product launches: the Macintosh (1984), NeXT (1988), and iMac (1998). It’s built around three launches, so you get a blueprint for narrative control: what to emphasize, what to cut, and how to frame the product so the market understands the stakes.

Lessons to steal:

• Craft beats consensus when the goal is a sharp product.
• Launches are stories: choose the villain (problem), the hero (product), and the promise (outcome).
• Relentless standards create clarity, but relationships still need maintenance.

11) Joy (2015) - Physical Product, Patents, and Channel Strategy

Category: physical product, movies about business, inventor story, perseverance

Based on the life of Joy Mangano, the film follows a single mother who invents a self‑wringing mop and builds a multi‑million‑dollar empire. This is the grind of making something real: prototyping, protecting IP, then finding a channel that can move volume fast.

Lessons to steal:

• Prototype early, then protect your IP before partnerships get complicated.
• Channel strategy matters as much as the product; QVC-style TV retail turns messaging into a conversion machine.
• Ops, inventory, and supplier issues show up either way; plan for them before demand hits.

12) BlackBerry (2023) - Innovator’s Dilemma and Missed Pivots

Category: tech biopic, platform shifts, films about startups

This recent film recounts the rise and fall of Research In Motion’s BlackBerry smartphone. Early dominance can create tunnel vision. When the market shifts, winners lose because they protect the old playbook instead of cannibalizing it first.

Lessons to steal:

• Hypergrowth amplifies culture clashes, align product, sales, and leadership before scale magnifies the gaps.
• Timing matters: cannibalize your own product before someone else does.
• Customer myopia is deadly; keep listening even when you think you already won.

13) The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) - Grit, Sales, and Survival Economics

Category: resilience, sales grind, great business movies

Based on Chris Gardner’s true story, this film shows a homeless salesman working tirelessly to secure a stockbroker internship for himself and provide for his son. It humanizes the early-stage reality: cold-calling stamina, resourcefulness, and asymmetric effort when your runway is measured in days.

Lessons to steal:

• Sales is a volume game before it becomes a craft; keep the reps up.
• Small routines compound when everything feels unstable.
• Use pressure as focus, not panic.

14) Startup.com (2001) Dot-Com Hype, Burn, and Cofounder Conflict

Category: documentary, startup movies, cofounder dynamics

This documentary follows govWorks, an online startup that raised $50 million during the dot‑com boom and scaled to 200 employees before generating revenue. A classic blueprint of runway pressure, scope creep, and governance gaps. It shows how fast money and fast hiring can outrun product-market reality.

Lessons to steal:

• Set roles and decision rights early, then protect them when stress hits.
• Fundraising is not traction. Scale after the product can carry the weight.
• Cofounder trust is an operating system, not a vibe.

15) Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999) Rivalry, Vision, and Copy vs Create

Category: tech history, founder story, films about startups

This TV film dramatizes the early days of Apple and Microsoft, focusing on the rivalry between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. Apple vs Microsoft plays out like two competing strategy archetypes: vision-led product bets versus platform capture. It’s also a messy reminder that “copy vs create” sits on an ethics line.

Lessons to steal:

• Competition clarifies strategy. It forces focus on distribution, positioning, and speed.
• Imitation can move markets, but values decide how you compete.
• Big outcomes can start small, even garage small.

16) The Aviator (2004) Ambition, Capital, and Operational Risk

Category: visionary bets, business management movies, founder psychology

Martin Scorsese chronicles the life of aviation pioneer and film producer Howard Hughes. It shows how massive ambition attracts capital, then tests your controls. The bigger the bets, the more expensive the mistakes, especially with regulatory headwinds and operational complexity.

Lessons to steal:

• Vision needs guardrails: risk checks, timelines, and someone willing to say “stop.”
• Overextension is a silent killer; it looks like momentum until it collapses.
• Founder psychology matters; decision quality drops when health and stress spiral.

17) Air (2023) Brand Partnerships and Category Creation

Category: negotiation, branding, movies about business and money

This Ben Affleck–directed film depicts Nike’s quest to sign rookie Michael Jordan in 1984, redefining both basketball and sneaker culture. This is category creation in motion: contract innovation, upside sharing, and storytelling that turns a product into a movement.

Lessons to steal:

• Win deals by anchoring on the other side’s core interests, not just price.
• Differentiate to create leverage, especially when competitors look “bigger.”
• Brand is meaning, not the logo. The story makes the product feel inevitable.

18) The Banker (2020) Barriers, Strategy, and Real Estate Finance

Category: Historical drama / social entrepreneurship

Based on a true story, the film follows African‑American businessmen Bernard Garrett and Joe Morris, who build a real estate empire in 1960s Texas and then become bankers. It shows creative deal structures to navigate systemic barriers, plus the real ethics tension in risk-reward decisions when the market is stacked against you.

Lessons to steal:

• Strategy is often constraint-led, you should build around what the system blocks.
• Partner selection matters; you need trust and operational alignment when the stakes are high.
• Negotiation is leverage plus patience, not noise.

19) Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005) Governance and Incentive Collapse

Category: corporate governance, documentary, corporate fraud

A sobering documentary chronicling the rise and spectacular collapse of energy giant Enron. A case study in how accounting games, toxic culture, and incentive blindness can turn a giant into dust.

Lessons to steal:

• Incentives without oversight create corruption on autopilot.
• Transparency is a leadership decision, not a finance task.
• Protect whistleblowers and build reporting lanes before you “need” them.

20) Too Big to Fail (2011) Policy, Liquidity, and Systemic Risk

Category: crisis leadership, finance drama

This HBO film dramatises the 2008 financial crisis from the perspective of U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Wall Street CEOs. You get the boardroom view of a meltdown: government, banks, and real-time trade-offs when the system is wobbling.

Lessons to steal:

• Debt and leverage are quiet until they are everything.
• Market bubbles pop, and timing matters if you’re holding risk.
• Stakeholder alignment is the work; CEOs, regulators, and teams rarely want the same outcome.

21) Jerry Maguire (1996) Client Focus, Niche, and Personal Brand

Category: sport agency/relationship drama 

A sports agent has a moral epiphany, writes a mission statement about personal integrity,  and gets fired, leaving him with one loyal client and a battle to rebuild his career. It’s the “small firm vs big shop” play: cut distractions, double down on the right clients, and use service as your moat.

Lessons to steal:

• Relationships are the asset, your network is the distribution.
• Choose fewer, better-fit clients and deliver obsessively.
• Keep resilience high when the market tests you, roll with punches, and keep moving.

22) Up in the Air (2009) Remote Work, Cost-Cutting, and Humanity

Category: leadership calls, culture, HR/Management drama

George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a corporate “termination engineer” who flies around the country firing employees until a young colleague proposes doing layoffs via video conference. It nails the tension between savings and humanity. When “efficiency” becomes the goal, culture pays the bill.

Lessons to steal:

• Cost-cutting fails when empathy is missing; decisions must start with the human experience.
• Prototype hard conversations before you scale them, especially layoffs and restructures.
• Work identity can become a trap; build a culture that keeps people from disappearing into the job.

23) Thank You for Smoking (2005) Spin, Framing, and Narrative Ethics

Category: Satirical negotiation / ethical lobbying

Nick Naylor is a smooth‑talking lobbyist for Big Tobacco who spins arguments to defend smoking. A crash course in persuasion mechanics, plus a reminder that winning the argument can still lose the brand.

Lessons to steal:

• Framing changes outcomes, even when facts are uncomfortable.
• “Saving face” is real leverage in negotiations, but shortcuts create long-term brand risk.
• Use persuasion responsibly; short-term wins can turn toxic fast.

24) Office Space (1999) Corporate Culture, Process, and Burnout

Category: Workplace comedy/management satire

Three IT workers rebel against their soul‑crushing cubicle job and incompetent boss. It’s satire that keeps landing because inefficiency is still everywhere: broken processes, meeting bloat, and managers who block work.

Lessons to steal:

• Fix the basics. Bad tools and constant friction drain output and morale.
• Create space to do real work, not just sit in a box waiting for interruptions.
• Stop micromanagement and improve communication; clarity beats hovering.

25) Barbarians at the Gate (1993) LBOs, Valuation, and Deal Drama

Category: Corporate takeover/finance history

Based on true events, this film recounts the leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco. Private equity basics through a story. You see how leverage, ego, and incentives collide when huge deals turn into public auctions.

Lessons to steal:

• Learn the mechanics: leveraged buyouts, power plays, and how information leaks reshape bids.
• Ego can override fiduciary duty, and governance matters when the stakes spike.
• Big transactions demand real diligence, not excitement.

Where to Watch Business Movies by Region (Streaming Basics)

People ask where to watch. Answer: check JustWatch for your country; rights shift monthly.

Streaming catalogs change constantly, so always verify availability on JustWatch (or your local equivalent) before you plan a watch night.

Common platforms by region (quick orientation):

• US: Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV, Hulu
• UK/EU: NOW, BBC iPlayer, Prime Video, Apple TV
• India: JioCinema, Disney+ Hotstar, Prime Video
• Canada: Crave, Prime Video, Apple TV

Quick Picks by Scenario (Voice Search Friendly)

Need something shorter than the full list? Here are a few great business movies categorised by their unique strengths:

1. Sales & Persuasion Movies: Glengarry Glen Ross, Thank You for Smoking, and The Wolf of Wall Street each demonstrate how words can build or destroy value. They showcase negotiation scenes, the psychology of persuasion, and the ethical limits of closing a deal.
2. Risk & Finance Dramas: The Big Short, Margin Call, and Too Big to Fail lay bare the mechanics of bubbles and crises. They are masterclasses in risk management, due diligence, and humility.
3. Founder Biopics & Startup Films: The Social Network, Moneyball, Steve Jobs, and Pirates of Silicon Valley highlight innovation, product launches, and disruptive thinking.
4. Inspiring Underdog Stories: The Pursuit of Happyness and Joy remind us that persistence and belief in your product can overcome seemingly impossible obstacles.

What to Watch Next (And What to Do After You Watch)

The best business movies work like compressed case studies. You get the decision points, the incentives, the mistakes, and the outcomes, without spending six months learning the hard way.

Pick three based on your current challenge, then run a simple watch-and-work session this week: pause at the turning points, list the incentives, and write one process change you’ll apply in Monday’s meeting.

Elevate your entrepreneurial game with actionable advice and inspiring interviews from high-level entrepreneurs, business owners, and overall badasses in the game. Get more insight and inspiration on our blog posts, podcast episodes, or invite-only community. Our latest podcast episodes: Vivek Ramaswamy on the power of film to inspire change and Tony Robbins on the power of movies in social change.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What are the best business movies to start with?

Start with The Social Network, The Big Short, and Moneyball, three standout business movies covering startup execution, market incentives, and data-driven management. For founders thinking about scale, add The Founder, which unpacks franchising strategy, operational discipline, and long-term growth decisions every entrepreneur eventually faces.

Are these movies about business realistic for entrepreneurs?

Most business movies are dramatized for storytelling, but the incentives, leadership tensions, and strategic tradeoffs closely mirror real-world entrepreneurship. Treat them as compressed case studies rather than instruction manuals. The value lies in analyzing decisions, spotting mistakes, and applying the underlying principles to your own business context.

Where can I watch business movies in my country?

Streaming availability varies by region and changes frequently as licensing shifts. Start with platforms like JustWatch to see where each title is currently available, then check major services such as Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV, or Hulu. Depending on your location, regional platforms like Hotstar, NOW, or Crave may also carry these films.

Which good business movies work for team workshops?

Moneyball is excellent for discussing KPIs and culture change, while Margin Call sharpens conversations around risk awareness and decision-making under pressure. Glengarry Glen Ross explores incentives and sales performance, and The Founder highlights operational scale. Together, these films spark practical dialogue that teams can translate into stronger execution.

What’s a movie about startups and cofounder dynamics?

The Social Network remains one of the clearest portrayals of cofounder tension, equity disputes, and execution speed inside a hypergrowth startup. Pair it with Startup.com, a documentary that captures governance struggles, role confusion, and investor pressure, reminding founders that alignment early on often determines long-term stability.

Are there recent business movies worth watching?

Newer titles continue to explore modern founder journeys and shifting tech landscapes. Keep an eye on Swiped, the Whitney Wolfe Herd biopic, alongside emerging films tied to startup culture and innovation cycles. Recent business movies often reflect today’s leadership challenges, platform disruption, and evolving expectations around growth.