This is a great movie for entrepreneurs to see. It came to my mind this week, as Blueliner is launching two exciting new brands to the world. Too bad the film-makers of this 2001 documentary film don’t own the URL. Then, the movie could have spun off into a whole series of merchandising opportunities. Nonetheless, the low-budget film still grossed over $1 million at the box office, and I am sure it has done at least equally as much in DVD rentals and sales. That aside, it is a film worth seeing for anyone who has started or is interested in starting a business.
I believe that our two launches this week will be more successful than govWorks, the company featured in the film, which receives millions of dollars in funding during the late 90’s dotcom boom, only to squander it all. The main characters are the two co-Founders, Kaleil Isaza Tuzman and Tom Herman, who get challenged to the point of splitting up as partners in the film. The strains on their friendship, in the face of corporate greed and pressure, is one of the most interesting parts of the film. What I found funny and scary at the same time was the part when they are testing their website functionality after spending a ton of money on web development.
This reminds me of how challenging it is to build the right leadership team in a start-up, or any other business for that matter. It also reminds me of the grueling work schedule, that I have been part of at several companies, and witness in some of our client companies. The scary part is, even with this hard work, there is no guarantee of success. Therein is the risk of start-ups, and what entrepreneurs have to be courageous enough to take on when they embark on new ventures.

While I am sure that many people watching this film say things like, “If I had that much money, I would not fail like they did”, the reality is, most start-up ventures don’t make it. The saying “the bigger they are, the harder they fall” also rings true. Keep in mind, the more money invested in a business, the greater the stakes for the investors, and therefore, the more pressure on management to expedite business development and results. Such pressure may or may not be healthy for some businesses, causing them to fail prematurely.

Anyway, that is a whole topic of its own. For now, I highly recommend that my fellow entrepreneurs rent or buy the movie if you have not done so already. Come back to the blog and comment after you have done so.