Top 10 business documentaries to teach you valuable lessons

The best business documentaries to put on your watch list

Here’s the list of the top 10 business documentaries that every aspiring entrepreneur should have in his 2023 New Year’s resolution. Following the advice provided in these documentaries, which is often said by or endorsed by business owners, will help you learn valuable lessons and even guide your startup to success. 

Capital C (2014)

Capital C is a business documentary “about the crowd revolution,” which examines crowdfunding as a new method of supporting businesses as well as a way for people to partake in and donate to causes that are important to them. The documentary is the result of this revolution; it was sponsored in 2014 by Kickstarter and directed by Timon Birkhofer and Jorg M. Kundinger. The documentary follows the efforts of three entrepreneurs as they work to realize their ideas and transform their lives over three years.

Lesson: It shows you how to run a successful crowdfunding campaign.

Generation Startup (2016)

Directed by Cheryl Miller Houser and Cynthia Wade, this business documentary shows us the struggles of a group of young entrepreneurs to make their dreams into a successful story. 

The documentary introduces us to American entrepreneurship and gives us an honest, down-in-the-dirt look at what it truly takes to start a business. 

The story follows six budding entrepreneurs who recently graduated from college. For 17 months, they were observed how they risk everything as they try to start new businesses in Detroit. Generation Startup humanizes the millennial entrepreneurial culture by highlighting the youths’ triumphs and setbacks and their battles with doubt and insecurity.

Lesson: No matter how difficult the beginning may be, always believe in yourself and never give up.

Betting On Zero (2016)

Directed by Ted Braun, Betting On Zero is one of the best business documentaries, which explores the thin boundary between right and wrong. It centers on hedge fund mogul Bill Ackman and his $1 billion short bet against Herbalife, which he took because he thought it was a doomed pyramid scam.

The documentary also discusses Herbalife’s governance structure and business procedures, as well as Ackman’s contentious and contentious relationship with the company’s founder.

Lesson: Before starting a business, study the market and the people you’ll work with. Because you can be easily fooled.

Abstract: The Art Of Design (2017)

This is not an ordinary business documentary, but it’s worth being on this list because fashion and business go hand in hand.

Abstract is a documentary series that explores the creative processes of some of the most well-known and fascinating designers in the world, such as the Danish architect Bjarke Ingels and shoe tycoon Tinker Hatfield. You can learn how design affects every part of life by peeping into the most creative designers’ heads across a range of fields.

Lesson:  If you have a valuable product or your service is essential, you’ll succeed, but a beautiful design is the foundation of everything.

Mars: Inside SpaceX (2018)

Directed by Julia Reagan, this documentary shows how one of Elon Musk’s space enterprises operates. Due to its position as the second most valuable private corporation in the world, SpaceX has altered the way we previously viewed the development of commercial spacecraft.

Their goal is to open up space travel to regular men. You’ll be curious about the eccentric billionaire’s proposal to colonize Mars for hours. You’ll discover how top engineers manage the incredibly sophisticated machinery and how Elon Musk selects applicants for SpaceX.

SpaceX’s effort to carry on even after two unsuccessful blasts is the epitome of applying grit to succeed.

Lessons: Technique of selecting talented candidates, concentrating on an issue first, then a product, considering the suggestions of your staff, and never quit trying.

Elon Musk: The real-life Iron Man (2018)

Another great documentary by Elon Musk is on our list. Directed by Sonia Anderson, this documentary somehow shows us the direction of where humanity will move. The main plot goes with learning about Elon Musk’s ascension, who is revolutionizing the ways we see transport technology with electric vehicles, the Hyperloop, and ground-breaking ideas for long-lasting computers and populating Mars. 

This documentary is one of the best business documentaries ever filmed because it represents the life of one of the most influential entrepreneurs in the 21st century.

Lesson: Entrepreneurship lessons can’t be learned in business classes. 

Inside Bill’s brain: Decoding Bil Gates (2019)

David Guggenheim, an Oscar-winning director, in his 2019 three-hour-long episodes business documentary, seeks to understand what is going on inside the mind of the Microsoft pioneer. The director allows us to get a little insight into Gate’s upbringing, education, Microsoft development, and his family’s life. The director seeks original answers to some of the most challenging problems in the world. Bill Gates unquestionably alters the world, whether it’s through nuclear power plants or clean drinking water.

Lesson: Examining inside the head of a genius is always illuminating. 

American Factory (2019)

American Factory is a documentary about the new formats of global capitalism that working-class Americans have to deal with. Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, this documentary won the Academy Award this year for Best Documentary Feature. Briefly stated, a Chinese billionaire intervenes to protect those who have been hurt by the fall in US manufacturing. It’s a new reality, even though spectators might perceive it as a tragicomic tale of a culture clash.

Lesson: Although many of the professions currently done by humans will be replaced by automation, there will always be a human element to the story.

The Inventor: Out For Blood In Silicon Valley (2019)

Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney’s signature stays behind this unique documentary, as well as Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room and Going Clear.

The story development goes to Theranos, the formerly multibillion-dollar healthcare company founded by Elizabeth Holmes who is the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire. The movie shows how Holmes and Balwani used dishonest tactics to deceive investors and business partners, and how both of them were more concerned with marketing, fame, and public relations than with developing the technology’s functional components. The documentary is an interesting investigation of the psychology of lying in the workplace.

Lesson: Sometimes good ideas can make people do bad things.

What do all these business documentaries have in common

We’ve rounded up a list of 10 great business documentaries which marked the previous decade. All these documentaries give you some valuable lessons that can teach you what business mistakes to avoid and what education to gain that will improve your personal and professional life.