7 Inspirational Documentaries for Young EntrepreneursFeeling down amid the early-summer doldrums? Check out these documentaries for a quick pick-me-up and a few choice marbles of wisdom.
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No one said starting a business was easy. The countless ups and downs and uncertainties can break even the strongest entrepreneur. While there may not be an app for overcoming that (yet) there are plenty of documentaries -- offering to give you a healthy dose of inspiration.
Documentaries come in all sorts of flavors, but they'll often all delve into inspirational tales about thought-provoking concepts through trials, tribulations and triumphs. If you need a little push to get your wheels turning, here are seven must-see documentaries:
Jiro Dreams of Sushi
If you ever wanted a prototype of what the entrepreneurial mindset looks like, Jiro Ono is your man. The 85-year-old is a top sushi chef, who works incessantly at his 10-seat restaurant Sukiyabashi Jiro located in a Tokyo subway station. Turning his dreams into a reality took dedication, hard work and a perfectionist mentality. And it paid off. The restaurant was the first of its kind to receive a coveted three-star Michelin rating, and it has amassed quite the following.
Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox
After escaping from a mental institution, Emanuel Bronner went on to develop Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap, a socially conscious peppermint soap filled with inspiring text on the label. The documentary is about the entrepreneur's fascinating belief system that he claims informs his product. Learn about his teachings called "The Moral ABC" and how the ideology behind a product can inspire a community to live by its code.
Indie Game: The Movie
Video-game design is in the midst of a new renaissance, as a new generation of indie designers, artists and coders look to take on big game studios. Through their entrepreneurial endeavors, the audience gets a peek inside the roller-coaster ride that is the lives of these developers -- from the pitfalls of product development to the joys of success.Freakonomics
Just how crazy is the world? Freakonomics, based on the best-selling book, is a documentary that manages to quantify exactly how crazy is with case studies examining human behavior. As an entrepreneur, you're going to need to have a keen eye for trendsetting and what makes people tick. Watch the documentary and gain insight into what motivates humans (a.k.a. your customers).