“The Founder,” starring Michael Keaton as McDonald’s impresario Ray Kroc, is the latest film in a small but educational genre: Biopics about real-life entrepreneurs.
These films may take liberties with the details in dramatizing the stories of pioneering businesspeople, and they present exaggerated versions of innovators like Steve Jobs,Mark Zuckerberg, Miracle Mop inventor Joy Mangano, or “Wolf of Wall Street” subject Jordan Belfort.
But taken together, these films amount to a business-school course of sorts in American entrepreneurship, imparting lessons in financing, marketing, intellectual-property protection, and other essentials for start-up bosses.
In “The Founder,” Mr. Keaton is a salesman struggling to hawk deluxe milkshake-mixing machines in the 1950s. When he comes across a small restaurant in San Bernardino, Calif., where diners are lining up for burgers and fries, he investigates the innovative quick-serve system that brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald (played by Nick Offerman and John Carroll Lynch) have created. Soon, Kroc is offering to expand their winning formula by franchising McDonald’s around the country.
One theme in these films is the personal toll that a start-up can take on entrepreneurs. Mr. Keaton’s Kroc sees his first marriage dissolve. The same happens to Robert Kearns, the obsessed windshield-wiper inventor played by Greg Kinnear in the 2008 film, “Flash of Genius.” Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin portrays Jobs (Michael Fassbender in “Steve Jobs”) and Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network”) as so blinded by their work that they fail to maintain intimate personal relationships.
There are many more lessons to be learned from these movies. Here are some do’s and don’ts.
Michael Keaton as McDonald’s boss Ray Kroc
DO: Recognize a concept ready to explode. Kroc sees the single-location, quick-serve McDonald’s thriving and arranges to create franchises everywhere.
DON’T: Stop selling. Kroc hounds nearly everyone he meets at social occasions to sign up as a franchisee or investor.
“War Dogs” (2016)
Jonah Hill and Miles Teller as arms dealers Efraim Diveroli and David Packouz
DO: Find a niche in a growth industry. These two see huge opportunity selling weapons to the U.S. military and begin bidding on “crumbs” rather than “the whole pie.”
DON’T: Leave important stuff to others. When they can’t get a permit to fly a load of guns from Jordan to Iraq, they get a truck and drive there themselves.
“Joy” (2015)
Jennifer Lawrence as Miracle Mop inventor Joy Mangano
DO: Raise funding where you can. From the rich widow (Isabella Rossellini) who is your father’s blind date? Why not?
DON’T: Quit after one setback. If you give up the first time your mop flops on QVC, maybe you aren’t cut out for this.
“Steve Jobs” (2015)
Michael Fassbender as the late Apple CEO
DO: Stick to your guns, if they’re loaded. Pursuing your vision for a new, albeit expensive product (Mac) over one that sells more easily (Apple II) can be a rough strategy. You’ll need fortitude and skills to make it work.
DON’T: Be cruel. Do you really want the movie about your life to include a former best friend (Seth Rogen) complaining: “It’s not binary. You can be decent and gifted at the same time”?
“The Wolf of Wall Street” (2013)
Leonardo DiCaprio as stock trader Jordan Belfort
DO: Choose a good name. Belfort renames his low-rent bucket shop Stratton Oakmont so he can pitch deals to wealthier clientele.
DON’T: Resort to illegal activity. You really don’t want Kyle Chandler and his FBI pals trying to make an example of you.
“The Social Network” (2010)
Jesse Eisenberg as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg
DO: Get in front of the right people. Facebook expands from East Coast colleges to Stanford so it’s more likely to be seen by Silicon Valley movers like Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake).
DON’T: Sign anything without a lawyer.
Early partner Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) trustingly signs a new agreement that ends up diluting almost all his equity in the company.
“Flash of Genius” (2008)
Greg Kinnear as windshield-wiper innovator Robert Kearns
DO: Prepare to alienate loved ones.
The years of maniacal dedication required to birth your idea may cause your spouse (Lauren Graham) to flee.
DON’T: Trust a would-be competitor.
It probably was a mistake to show those designs to GM without protecting them first.
“Tucker: The Man and His Dream” (1988)
Jeff Bridges as 1940s auto designer Preston Tucker
DO: Be a publicity hound.
One magazine article about Tucker’s plans generated 150,000 letters.
DON’T: Expect prior success to guarantee anything.
Just because your gun turrets sold to the military, it doesn’t mean your family sedan prototype can compete with Detroit’s big auto makers.
Posted By: Juan Felipe Giglio
Wednesday, January 11th 2017 at 9:22PM
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