Posted by Jonathan Iannacone on Sat, May 09, 2009 @ 03:08 PM
Tucker is a great movie for those of you that have big ideas. The true story centers around Preston Tucker a "dreamer, visionary and inventor" who tried to revolutionize the auto industry in the late 1940's. It also is a cautionary tale to remind those who evangelize disruptive technologies that they will probably feel the wrath of the powerful companies that they intend to overtake.
Hold That Tiger!
"Hold That Tiger!" This is the phrase that Preston Tucker exclaims when he has a eureka moment. You can just see the excitement as his mind siezes on an untapped opportunity. The beginning of the movie centers around this big idea...the Tucker, a revolutionary car boasting many technological advances. What is great for the entrepreneur of today is that the formula for a big idea in the 1940s is very much the same as it is today:
Have Big Idea > Try to Raise Funds > Get Rejected > Advertise > Demonstrate Demand > Get Credible Board Signed On > Get Funded > Hit the Ground Running
Early on it is almost all smoke and mirrors and very little reality. It is basically Tucker's drawing and charisma that gets things going...oh and a well place magazine ad that creates a groundswell of demand for the proposed automobile.
Preston is the typical entrepreneur...dynamic, hungry, and often frustrated by the inability to realize his ideas immediately.
A Loyal Group
Another thread that flows through the movie is how loyal a group Preston puts around him. He doesn't discriminate or pass judgment, if you have passion about the Tucker you gain entry into his inner circle. He also instills an incredible amount of loyalty in his team. You see them working ridiculously hard to make impossible deadlines with very little to work with. The plight should be familiar to those of you who have been part of a startup....not enough funding, not enough time, crazy hours but really gratifying. Whenever they fall short they are met by the frustration of Tucker, but also the knowledge that he is with them working just as hard to realize the dream.
At one point he stops everything and looks at the group and says: "Is there anyone in the room who can look me in the eye and tell me we can't do it?" Later, the man who orchestrated his financial backing, who admittedly began working with Tucker for the money states, I never thought that if I got too close to you that I would catch your dreams. They all bought into the vision.
Creating Buzz
Another great entrepreneurial trait that Preston Tucker had was the ability to create buzz. With the car, it started with the magazine advertisement which received 150,000 responses from around the country. It continues when he chooses the largest building in the country to be his factory for his cars. Probably the height of the buzz occurs at the unveiling of the Tucker. Preston kept everyone but his closest confidants in the dark about the car. The reasons were twofold: 1) create buzz, 2) he didn't want anyone to know that the car really was not ready and only resembled the advertised Tucker in appearance. However, despite the scramble to get everything ready, he went ahead with a huge launch, complete with a band and all sorts of fanfare. It was a harrowing experience, but in the end it was a huge success.
The Steadfast Belief of the Entrepreneur
The story turns much darker after the initial launch as the big automobile companies use their significant powers to smear and ultimately ruin Tucker's company. There is a messy trial where Preston Tucker is facing serious charges and possibly looking at significant jail time.
At the closing arguments of the trial Preston Tucker speaks on his own behalf and has this to say:
"We invented the free enterprise system where anybody, no matter who he was, where he came from, what class he belonged to, if he came up with a better idea about anything, there was no limit to how far he could go. I grew up a generation too late I guess because now the way the system works, the loner, the dreamer, the crackpot who comes up with some crazy idea that everybody laughs at that later turns out to revolutionize the world, he's squashed from above before he even gets his head out of the water because the bureaucrats, they'd rather kill a new idea than let it rock the boat... If big business closes the door on the little guy with the new idea, we're not only closing the door on progress but we're sabotaging everything we fought for, everything the country stands for."
After the trial, as he is outside looking at the 50 beautiful Tuckers fresh off the production line he says, "50 or 50 million, it's the idea that counts, the dream". An entrepreneur through and through.
Posted by Jonathan Iannacone on Sun, Nov 25, 2007 @ 03:01 PM
What can the movies tell us about business? More than you might think. There are many movies out there that offer rich case studies of what drives success and failure in business. I have chosen a few of my favorites which I go back to periodically for inspiration and entertainment.
Jerry Maguire is one of the few movies that really gives a first hand account of the unbelievable highs and lows you experience that first year as an entrepreneur. His story is of a successful sports agent that finds his conscience. We watch him as he goes from unfulfilled business success to the brink of total disaster and then finally emerges as the triumphant agent who really does care.
It starts with a mission
Jerry's journey starts when he makes the rash late night decision to write a mission statement and distribute it to everyone in his company at their annual conference. He describes it: "I had lost the ability to B.S., ... it was the me I had always wanted to be."
That is how many businesses begin, with the search and belief that there is something better to be created. An ideal. For anyone who is considering going into business, I strongly encourage you to write a mission statement as early as possible. For me, my first mission statement acts as a compass that represents the pure vision of what I hoped to create. Surely there are some things that change over time, but the values and enthusiasm should not.
Who's coming with me
After the release of his mission statement, Jerry is unceremoniously fired and loses all but one of his clients on the first day. As he packs his things to leave the office for the last time he fully expects his assistant to come with him. She does not. In a desperate attempt he implores the office, "if anybody else wants to come with me, this moment will be the ground floor of something real and fun and inspiring and true in this godforsaken business and we will do it together!" All decline except for one.
When you take the big leap, many clients, colleagues, friends and family you thought would be with you decline to come along for the ride. Starting something new is not for the faint of heart. Be sure in what you believe and start with the expectation that you will carry the vision alone because many times it will feel that way.
To the brink and back again
I also like how Jerry Maguire shows us how low the lows can get. He remarks, "Twenty four hours ago, man, I was hot! Now... I'm a cautionary tale. You see this jacket I'm wearing, you like it? Because I don't really need it. Because I'm cloaked in failure!" In exasperation he utters what I feel is the best representation of what it is like to be an entrepreneur in year one: "It is an up-at-dawn, pride-swallowing siege that I will never fully tell you about."
Entrepreneur's remorse, which is a natural feeling as you navigate the quagmire that is a brutal learning curve. Part of you regrets the day you started, but for those that succeed the belief that you are fighting the good fight wins out.
Listen to your conscience
In the movie, Jerry constantly remembers truisms spoken by his mentor Dickie Fox. These ground him and act as his conscience as he does business. As we see Jerry finally succeed on his terms, you witness the well up of emotion and satisfaction that comes with building something you are proud of. Dickie Fox says, "I'm not saying I have all the answers. I have failed as much as I have succeeded. But I love my life. I love my wife. And I wish you my kind of success."
Remember what you want to create, cling to it with all your might and enjoy the ride.