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Pirates of Silicon Valley

The film is partially based on book “Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer” by Paul Feiberger and Michael Swaine. Director Martyn Burke jumps through key moments in time for Apple and Microsoft in telling the story of their respective companies. Opening lines and narration are spoken over backdrop of Apple’s 1984 Super Bowl commercial being filmed. This commercial introduced Apple’s Macintosh computer and, though it has never aired again, few commercials have ever been more influential. The film then jumps to Bill Gates, who is a Harvard student who prefers poker to classes.

Apple Computers Inc. was the main attraction at the 1977 Computer Fair in San Francisco. Jobs would cross few lines, from verbally abusing enthusiastic employees until they were mute with humiliation to grilling a potential employee about when the potential employee may or may not have lost his virginity.

Gates convinced IBM execs that they needed an operating system, Microsoft didn’t even have one at the time. Jobs’ self-obsession was put on display by his abject denial that girlfriend was pregnant by him, despite a positive paternity test. He dismissed her so she could go “play mommy”, callous vitriol made even more striking because he himself was orphaned. Later on he tracked down his estranged-girlfriend demanding that she not name “their” daughter some weird name and they settled on Lisa. Gates said he knew it would work because success is a menace because it fools smart people into thinking they can’t lose.

In the film, Bill Gates takes his team to Apple HQ and tries to convince Steve Jobs that Apple is economically vulnerable. Jobs stays true to his cause saying, You can’t just have employees anymore. They gotta be into a crusade. It’s like art, science, religion, all rolled into one. Ballmer felt Jobs’ genius lay in making computers not a business, but a religion.

The film’s production began in 2009, when Eisenberg, Timberlake, and Garfield were all cast. Principal photography began in October of that year in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and lasted until the end of the year.

Additional scenes were shot in California, in the cities of Los Angeles and Pasadena, because the film is set in Silicon Valley. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross composed the score for the film, which was released on September 28, 2010.

Columbia Pictures released the film in the United States on October 1, 2010. The film was a critical and commercial success, grossing $224 million on a $40 million budget and receiving widespread acclaim from critics. It was named one of the year’s best films by 78 critics, and the best by 22, the most of any film that year. It was also named the best film by the National Board of Review in 2010.

It received eight nominations at the 83rd Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Eisenberg, and won three: Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, and Best Film Editing. At the 68th Golden Globe Awards, it was also nominated for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Original Score.

Since its initial release, The Social Network has maintained a strong reputation and is frequently cited by critics as one of the best films of its respective decade and century. Sorkin’s screenplay was named the third-best of the twenty-first century by the Writers Guild of America. While no official sequel has been announced, Sorkin has publicly expressed his desire to write a screenplay for one should Fincher return to the project.

Entrepreneurs, like the rest of us, require inspiration from time to time. What better way to get inspired than to take a break and watch some thought-provoking films?
Regardless of where you are in your entrepreneurial journey, the movies on this list will provide you with much-needed inspiration.

Here are 21 movies that every entrepreneur should watch:

Table of Contents

• 21 Inspiring Movies for Entrepreneurs
  • 1. The Social Network
  • 2. Pirates of Silicon Valley
  • 3. Startup.com
  • 4. Wall Street
  • 5. Glengarry Glenn Ross
  • 6. The Big Short
  • 7. The Wolf of Wall Street
  • 8. Boiler Room
  • 9. Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened
  • 10. The Aviator
  • 11. Moneyball
  • 12. The Founder
  • 13. Margin Call
  • 14. Steve Jobs
  • 15. Thank You for Smoking
  • 16. The Pursuit of Happyness
  • 17. Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
  • 18. Any Given Sunday
  • 19. The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley
  • 20. The Great Hack
  • 21. Becoming Warren Buffett

Did I overlook any of the best entrepreneur movies that you think everyone should see? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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