Get swept up in stories of entrepreneurial success and woe. Explore industry-wide corruption. Find out what happens when architects of change battle with the music business. And marvel at how the very people who resisted change in the car industry are now pushing to be at the forefront of the electric vehicle revolution.
From Becoming Warren Buffet to Revenge of the Electric Car, here are 5 documentaries that both entertain and educate. Watch and learn as they demonstrate what to do and what not to do when it comes to business and leadership.
5 docos every CEO should watch
-
Becoming Warren Buffett
This HBO documentary, released in January this year, provides a fascinating look at the life of billionaire businessman, investor and philanthropist, Warren Buffett.
A born investor, the film charts his trajectory to becoming the fourth richest man in the world, as well as his decision to give it all away. But it also gives an insight into the man himself, delving into his childhood and exploring his relationships with his family. His first wife Susie, who passed away in 2004 features prominently in the film. She was a defining force in Warren’s life and, particularly, his philanthropic work.
And throughout the doco, Warren shares words of wisdom on business, investment and life itself. “Investment problems, they’re easy. It’s the human problems that are the tough ones,” he says.
Also see: Steve Jobs: One Last Thing, for an exploration of the life and times of another wildy successful, but eccentric entrepreneur.
-
Inside Job
From one of the best to some of the worst. Inside Job looks at the systemic corruption in the finance industry that led to the 2008 global financial crisis.
Narrated by Matt Damon and directed by Charles Ferguson, the Academy Award-winning documentary is presented in five parts, charting the lead-up, duration and aftermath of the crisis. It also explains how those responsible managed to avoid accountability, walking away with their fortunes intact.
According to legendary film critic, the late Robert Ebert, the film is “an angry, well-argued documentary about how the American financial industry set out deliberately to defraud the ordinary American investor”.
Also see: Enron, the Smartest Kids in the Room, for another in depth look at corporate corruption.
-
The Startup Kids
Two Icelandic entrepreneurs, however, created something positive out of the GFC.
Iceland was hit hard and Vala Halldorsdottir lost her job in banking. Sesselja Vilhjalmsdottir had just finished uni, but her prospects for employment were poor due to the economic climate. So in 2009 the pair teamed up and started a board game company. Buoyed by their success, they wanted to encourage other young people to create startups.
The aspiring filmmakers jumped on a plane to the US. Armed with a camera and a Kickstarter campaign, they went “looking for interesting and smart people who were willing to share their stories”, and found them. The film features interviews with the founders of Vimeo, Soundcloud, Kiip, Dropbox, Foodspotting and more, sharing their stories of entrepreneurship in the tech industry.
Also see: Startup.com, a cautionary tale about two childhood best friends who start a company at the height of the dot.com bubble. From initial highs, it soon comes crashing down, irrevocably damaging their friendship in the process.
-
Downloaded
Another startup story, Downloaded charts the rise and fall of Napster, the file sharing service that blindsided the music industry and started a digital revolution.
Director Alex Winter (perhaps better known as Bill of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure) originally pitched the film as a straight narrative. Instead, he ended up working on the documentary for over a decade.
The film has interviews with Napster’s co-founders Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker and provides an intimate view of the creation of Napster. But Alex also talks to a number of musicians, including Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan and Beastie Boys’ Mike D, as well as industry insiders such as former Sony Music Chairman Don Ienner and the former CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America Hilary Rosen, exploring its effect on the music industry.
Downloaded is not just about Napster. It’s about how Napster completely changed the music industry – without it, there would be no iTunes or Spotify – and how the industry fought it every step of the way.
Also see: Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World, a documentary about the evolution of the internet and its impact on our lives from renowned filmaker Werner Herzog.
-
Revenge of the Electric Car
In 2006, filmmaker Chris Paine released Who Killed the Electric Car, which deconstructs what happened to General Motors’ EV1, a battery electric car. It demonstrates how the car industry, the fuel industry, the government and the disinterested consumer all contributed to its demise.
With 2011’s Revenge of the Electric Car, Chris shows how much changed in just a few short years, documenting the rebirth of the electric car. It follows Elon Musk, co-founder of Tesla Motors, Bob Lutz, Vice Chairman of General Motors, Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault-Nissan and Greg Abbott, who converts cars into electric powered vehicles, as they battle it out to bring electric cars back to the market.
Also see: Who Killed the Electric Car – watch how the electric car got taken down before the carmakers wised up.
