The Greatest and Wisest Movie and Television Lines for Entrepreneurs

Being an entrepreneur isn’t easy. Doing business isn’t easy. It can lead to having to sacrifice many things – friends, family, and more – although there should be a balance between work and life. At the end, regardless of the balance you’ve succeeded in achieving in your work/life schedule doesn’t make being an entrepreneur any easier. Like many have said before, if it was easy more would do it.

Without further ado, here are some of the most chilling and authentic movie and television lines for entrepreneurs. Listen to young Leo.

Suits

There is no doubt that all of us have excuses for not achieving something particular. Some of those excuses are acceptable (probably the small minority of them), while the large majority of the excuses we make are lies to make ourselves feel better. For instance, hitting sales targets. Many would say, “it’s a down season”, or “the leads are not very good” and even though both may be true, the uber-successful find ways to minimize the effect of both of those excuses. 

 

Get it through your head. First impressions last. You start behind the eight ball, you’ll never get in front. – Harvey Specter

Something we are taught from a young age, but if you still don’t get it, then we will simplify it for you: there is only one chance to make a first impression, and its effect usually impacts decisions one way or the other.

That’s the difference between you and me, you wanna lose small,I wanna win big. – Harvey Specter

This is a manner of risk. No sane person lays 100% of everything on the line so as they could be left with nothing. However, with that in mind, when running a business, especially a startup, playing small-ball generally won’t get you anywhere – especially in the long run. Playing to “lose small” is not what got Fortune 500 companies to where they are today.

You want to make something of yourself? Sitting in a massage chair won’t help. This is not meant to be a motivational quote – it does a good job at that – rather a basic law of business and physics: what is in motion will stay in motion (and what waits will wait forever).

Bonus: Harvey’s greatest!

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

 

Do, or do not. There is no try. – Yoda

This might be a bit harsh, and definitely a bit cliche but we want you to know the truth – to say you “tried” is another excuse. You do, and then there are two options: fail or succeed, and even failing is not the end of the world (just another lesson). In today’s age you can hire freelancers from any country in the world (almost), have your videos or podcasts streamed anywhere and learn to code for free, so trying is pretty lame. Start saying, “I’m doing”.

American Gangster

We have not been lucky enough to sit in a boardroom meeting at Google Alphabet, but we are guessing that Bin and Paige are not the loudest ones in the room. They probably can leave that job to a shareholder. At the end of the day it’s all about execution and more often than not, execution can be done while on mute.

Any Given Sunday

“Life’s this game of inches. So is football. Because in either game, life or football, the margin for error is so small — I mean one-half a step too late, or too early, and you don’t quite make it. One-half second too slow, too fast, you don’t quite catch it.” – Tony D’Amato 

The Pursuit Of Happyness

Don’t ever let somebody tell you you can’t do something. Not even me. You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People can’t do somethin’ themselves, they wanna tell you you can’t do it. If you want somethin’, go get it. Period.” – Chris Gardner

Unlike many of the quotes in this article, this one, or some variety of it, was used in real life as it comes from the movie that depicts the true story of Chris Gardner. The bottom line is this: you want something? Go get it, just like we told someone on Reddit a few days ago.

 

Dead Poets Society

Going back to the previous quote from Chris Gardner, this is on the same line: nothing comes to those that just wait. You have got to go and get what you want, because last we checked we did not see any angel investors handing out thousands of dollars on street corners. If anything, we are seeing the opposite. See this horror story.

No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world. – John Keating

Last we checked AirBnB and Uber were not creating something so extraordinary. You don’t need to rewrite the universe to create value. Creating value can be done anywhere.

Two for the Money

There’s no such thing as too far. You understand? You push everything as far as you can. You push and you push and you push until it starts pushing back. And then you push some goddamn more. – Walter Abrams

That’s pure business ladies and gentlemen.

Shawshank Redemption

Get busy living, or get busy dying. – Andy Dufresne

Groundhog Day

Well, what if there is no tomorrow? There wasn’t one today. – Phil Conners

This is one of those quotes that just needs to sit in the back of your mind or the front. It’s a cliche motivational quote (wasn’t meant like that in the film) that is true for every aspect of life as an entrepreneur. So, do yourself a favor and just think – there is no tomorrow (P.S. don’t go crazy on us).

Boiler Room:

 

Forrest Gump

You’ve got a vision? Give it a shot. You owe it to yourself.

Saving Private Ryan

I’m a captain. There’s a chain of command. Gripes go up, not down. Always up. You gripe to me, I gripe to my superior officer, so on, so on, and so on. I don’t gripe to you. I don’t gripe in front of you. You should know that as a Ranger. – Captain Miller

That is a leader – not a manager. Know which one you need leading your teams and company.

Seabuscuit

You know, if you did more riding and less talking you might start winning some races. – George Woolf

Rocky Balboa

Cause if you’re willing to go through all the battling you got to go through to get where you want to get, who’s got the right to stop you? I mean maybe some of you guys got something you never finished, something you really want to do, something you never said to someone, something…and you’re told no, even after you paid your dues? Who’s got the right to tell you that, who? Nobody! It’s your right to listen to your gut, it ain’t nobody’s right to say no after you earned the right to be where you want to be and do what you want to do!

For the emotion behind it this inspirational quote (that should be posted in your office):

Jerry Maguire

Bet on me, dude. Bet on me like I bet on you.- Rod Tidwell

Business relationships are a two way road, and that includes those that are with team members and those that are with clients/users and any other stock holder you do business with. You have got to have faith in the other pieces of the puzzle if you want that puzzle to become one. Why? Because you are no superman. You can’t do everything alone. Know when to trust and when to push.

MoneyBall

The problem we’re trying to solve is that there are rich teams and there are poor teams. Then there’s fifty feet of crap, and then there’s us. It’s an unfair game. And now we’ve been gutted. We’re like organ donors for the rich. Boston’s taken our kidneys, Yankees have taken our heart. And you guys just sit around talking the same old “good body” nonsense like we’re selling jeans. Like we’re looking for Fabio. We’ve got to think differently. We are the last dog at the bowl. You see what happens to the runt of the litter? He dies. – Billy Beane

Steve Prefontaine: Without Limits

I don’t want to win unless I know I’ve done my best, and the only way I know how to do that is to run out front, flat out until I have nothing left. Winning any other way is chicken-shit. – Prefontaine

The Wolf of Wall Street

The only thing standing between you and your goal is the bullshit story you keep telling yourself as to why you can’t achieve it. – Jordan Belfort

Good Will Hunting

The Imitation Game

Sometimes it is the people who no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine. – Christopher Morcom

The Theory of Everything

There should be no boundaries to human endeavor. We are all different. However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. While there’s life, there is hope. – Stephen Hawking

Up in the Air

“There’s nothing cheap about loyalty.” – Ryan Bingham

It may not be cheap or fast, but the ROI on a healthy relationship built on trust is almost impossible to measure. The value is constant and never ceases to exist as long as trust is still part of the equation.

The Cinderella Man

“I have to believe that when things are bad I can change them.” – Jim Barddock

That is the only mindset that you should look for in potential employees and co-founders, only that instead of I, add “we”. As we all know, there is no “I” in team.

City of Ember

“The main thing is: Pay attention, pay attention to everything, everything you see. Notice what no one else notices, and you’ll see what no one else knows. What you get is what you get, what you do with what you get, that’s more the point.”

Batman

The Jocker might be off his rocker, but he is right that sometimes it takes a push (or a dive off the deep end) to reach that locked potential. Don’t fear the unknown.

As Rachel puts it, the real entrepreneur will leave the talking at home. 

Fight Club

“Warning: If you are reading this then this warning is for you. Every word you read of this useless fine print is another second off your life. Don’t you have other things to do? Is your life so empty that you honestly can’t think of a better way to spend these moments? Or are you so impressed with authority that you give respect and credence to all that claim it? Do you read everything you’re supposed to read? Do you think every thing you’re supposed to think? Buy what you’re told to want? Get out of your apartment. Meet a member of the opposite sex. Stop the excessive shopping and masturbation. Quit your job. Start a fight. Prove you’re alive. If you don’t claim your humanity you will become a statistic. You have been warned.” – Chuck Palahniuk

Basically, in a few short words what you need to know is that a wantrepreneur is not an entrepreneur. Stop talking about what you want to do and envision doing and start doing, Either do it as they say in Fight Club or scroll back up and listen to Yoda!

House of Cards

Lone survivor 

I can never forget, but no matter how much it hurts, how dark it gets or no matter how far you fall, you are never out of the fight. – Marcus Luttrel

 

What’s going to be your next move? We’ll be watching!