THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS

“I love the Pursuit of Happyness – it’s such a great feel-good movie. It teaches you that, regardless of what other people say or how high the odds seem stacked against you, you can overcome even the toughest of challenges with self-belief, perseverance, and passion.”
Asini Wijewardane, Babson College (Olin)

“The Pursuit of Happyness is the best movie. The film captures so many topics relevant to business today: the entrepreneurial spirit, the tenacity it takes to compete from a disadvantaged position, the determination it requires to achieve dreams, and the discomfort that lies in between. Although there are many lessons from this movie, the most salient for me is this combined idea of self-empowerment and influence: every challenge can be an opportunity for self-growth. It’s what you do with those moments that will shape you and transform those around you.”
Kayla Lorraine Demers, Dartmouth College (Tuck)

“I’d say The Pursuit of Happyness with Will Smith. It’s the story of a single father (and salesman) who refuses to give up as he struggles to create a better life for him and his son. There’s one quote from the movie that has always stuck with me, where Will Smith’s character says to his son: “If you’ve got a dream, you’ve got to protect it…[when] you want something, go get it…period”.”
Geoffrey Calder, Stanford GSB

“The Pursuit of Happyness. It’s not directly about business but rather about a struggling, single, Black father who strives to create a better life for his son and carves out his career in doing so. A main part of the movie is the father working a job as an unpaid intern at a prestigious brokerage firm. That movie taught me that your work ethic will dictate where you go in life. It also taught me to work harder and never give up. Let your colleagues judge you or ridicule you. You can wave past them on your way to the top.  Also, it taught me that unpaid internships are literal bull***t.”
Janelle Heslop, MIT Sloan

THE INTERN

“The Intern with Robert DeNiro and Anne Hathaway for two reasons. First, each individual in an organization can bring value you never anticipated, so keep your eyes open and empower your team. Second, it’s never too late to reinvent yourself. Learning is a lifelong adventure.”
Alexandra Gerson, Carnegie Mellon (Tepper)

“The Intern: This is my favorite movie about business because of the many lessons it emphasizes. It teaches empathy, walking the walk and talking the talk, managing up, and maintaining integrity, to name a few. The biggest lesson I gained from this movie, however, is leadership. It is important to recognize both the strengths you possess that have gotten you to where you are as well as your areas for growth. It’s also crucial that you are intentional about surrounding yourself with equally as brilliant people to fill your gaps.”
Elizabeth Hailand, Washington University (Olin)

THE SOCIAL NETWORK

“The Social Network. The biggest lesson I gained from it is that there are good start-up ideas, and there are phenomenal start-up ideas like Facebook. And for consumer-facing start-ups, the “hook” is a key growth driver – think about when Facebook added the relationship status to its profile page!”
Anish Bhatnagar, University of Chicago (Booth)

“My favorite movie about business was The Social Network. It was relatable and current for a person of my age. When I watched it, I was in high school and did not even think about Facebook as a business. The movie changed the way I looked at apps or social media sites. Without a business mindset, I learned quite a few valuable lessons that I was able to see during my MBA program. It taught me that business can be ruthless; it is very important to be strong, confident and well-informed. Not everything will work out the way you plan and always be prepared for some problem to arise. It also taught me that you will make mistakes and perfecting the business models take time and revisions. Having ideas are great, but implementing them is the key challenge. To be impactful and powerful, it is necessary to effectively make the business case and bring it to fruition. If you can do this, then even an academically strong engineer can reach the pinnacle of modern business.”
Swati Patel, Rice University (Jones)

CHEF

“Chef. However, I think the biggest lesson I gained from it is that when you have your personal priorities appropriately aligned, business success will follow. All too often, I have put work, school work, and other tasks ahead of family, friends, and the things that matter to me. In business school, I have worked to be better at balancing things. While I’m far from perfect, I have been able to see the positive output. Plus, the movie is just great and the food he cooks looks delicious.
Jay Mathes, Emory University (Goizueta)

“I love John Favreau’s 2014 indie hit, Chef. In addition to having an awesome soundtrack and mouth-watering shots of Cubano sandwiches, the movie has great lessons about business. Firstly, it preaches that you’ve got to do what you love. If you’re working a job that you’re not passionate about, find the courage to take the plunge and do something that excites you (in the case of the protagonist, this meant leaving the hoity-toity restaurant industry and running his own food truck). The movie also highlights that good word-of-mouth marketing is critical for getting a small business up and running. Customers line the block in response to tweets that show the whereabouts of the roaming food truck with delicious shots of specialty foods, proving that effective marketing need not be complex so long as it focuses on customer needs.”
Jane Hannon, University of Virginia (Darden)

THE FOUNDER

“The Founder. This movie tells the story of how Ray Kroc came to be the owner of McDonald’s. The biggest lesson I took from the movie is to always know more than anybody else about your business. If you only focus on one aspect of your business and become complacent once you perfect that aspect, then you leave yourself vulnerable to somebody with a vision taking and expanding on what you’ve built. In business, it’s one thing to have a great idea, but it’s even more important to execute on that idea and make it a reality. What Ray Kroc did was not the nicest or even morally correct thing to do, but he made what McDonald’s is today by executing on a vision of shifting to a franchise business model and owning the land that the franchisees built their restaurants on.”
Miguel Klee Roldan, Indiana University (Kelley)

“Among the most recent ones, The Founder is one that shows very clearly that the business world is ruthless regarding great ideas: they are more of a bare minimum than a single sustainable pillar of success. For a business to thrive, great discipline, risk-taking, and a sober view of how the business model and the value proposition can continue to evolve together are even more important than the fantastic innovation that started it all. The ruthlessness of Ray Kroc, brilliantly portrayed by Michael Keaton, is also an interesting warning about character and the expectation of fairness in the business world.”
Larissa Reinprecht, ESMT Berlin

“The Founder because I think it accurately portrays the dangerous tradeoffs you accept when you put financial success above your fellow employees. Although one might argue that Ray Kroc had a lucrative life, I believe that having an honest reputation is worth more. I would never want my own success to be dependent on betraying others.”
Alyssa Murray, MIT (Sloan)

THE GODFATHER

“This may sound a little unnerving, but The Godfather is by far my favorite movie about business, even if that business is organized crime. The Corleone family shows us that building a network of trusted advisors is crucial to a sustained, successful business model and that knowing your competition is key to creating your organization’s value proposition. You also get a crash course in negotiations, to include lessons on how to make offers people can’t refuse.”
Chris Salinas, University of Florida (Warrington)

“The Godfather—There are classes taught about this movie. It’s a movie my father used to watch consistently. The biggest lesson that I took from the Godfather to build a powerful network. My father used to say, “Your network is your net worth.” This means that relationships are built on trust, honesty, and respect whether friendships or business relationships are the most powerful. Another moment where this lesson is prevalent is when Don Vito says, “It don’t make any difference to me what a man does for a living, you understand.” This message is a part of business and definitely should be reiterated in the MBA. It’s just as important to know the name of the janitor as it is the CEO. The true power is not simply the privilege and the beneficial opportunities; the true power is understanding that everyone is important to the process and there are lessons that can be learned from their stories.”
Geoffrey Rowan, University of Miami