What Every Entrepreneur Can Learn From The Movie ‘Iron Man’

By Joel on February 2, 2012

The 2008 film ‘Iron Man’ was a big hit at the box office and blew away critics and comic book fan boys alike. Robert Downey Jr. received a lot of praise for his role as the billionaire industrialist Tony Stark who turned him self into a motivational character who fought the bad guys. There’s a lot to love about this superhero flick, but you might not know what every entrepreneur can learn from the movie “Iron Man”.

There’s plenty of motivational content in the film, and here are some of the lessons worth pondering on:

#1: It’s OK Not To Get It Right The First Time

Learning the ropes of business is an ongoing process, not a one-shot deal. In the film, Tony Stark didn’t just develop one version of his armour, but three. Although the Mark I (which he built during captivity) helped him get out of the cave, it was slow, clunky and only lasted 15 minutes.

As soon as he got home, Tony immediately worked on the Mark II which was the silver version he took for an impromptu test flight. With this version, he also ran into problems, namely his suit freezing at extremely high altitudes.

Towards the end of the film, he came up with the Mark III which built upon the strengths of his first two suits while doing away with their respective weaknesses.

So, the point is that Tony didn’t get things right the first time, nor did he expect himself to. He knew that he had to learn from his past mistakes before he could finally come up with something that truly worked.

In the same way, what every entrepreneur can learn from the movie “Iron Man” is that it’s ok to make mistakes because they can teach you what not to do the next time around.

#2: Sometimes You Gotta Run Before You Can Walk

Speaking of the Mark II, Tony’s A.I. butler JARVIS warned him that there were still terabytes of calculations that needed to be done before he could take his suit to the skies. Tony responded by blasting off anyway in spite of this and learned how to fly his baby by learning first-hand.

As an entrepreneur, you can test the waters and speculate all you want, but you’ll never really learn the business by never taking a risk and trying stuff yourself.

Studying business in school and reading books about it is helpful in the sense that you need to know the theories before stepping out into the real world. However, the other half of the equation is about getting out there and actually doing it.

If fear is holding you back in any way, here’s a motivational tip: going out there and doing it will teach you a whole lot of other things you won’t find in a book.

#3: Be Willing To Evolve

When Tony realised that his business endeavors put people in harms way, he decided that he needed to shut down Stark Industries & weapons division and re-think the direction of his company.

In the real world, you also need to change what you’re doing if your previous approaches or methods are no longer working for your business. Change is not only an inevitable part of being an entrepreneur, but also when it comes to life in general.

The better you can adapt to and work around your ever-changing circumstances, the greater success you’ll enjoy.

#4: Don’t Be So Serious All The Time

While Tony Stark often found him self in dire circumstances, he didn’t always hunker down and contemplate on the seriousness of it all. In fact, he always tried to find humor in any given situation in order to diffuse the tension and take the edge off.

Running a business has its challenges and you’ll face constant pressure, so what every entrepreneur can learn from the movie “Iron Man” is that you should always try to see the lighter side of everything so that you don’t drive yourself crazy.

#5: Work With What You Have And Improvise

When you’re starting out in business, you may not have all the resources you’d like. The problem is that you may end up focusing on your limitations more than what you actually have.

While he was held hostage, Tony Stark built the Arc Reactor (the gizmo that powered his suit) in a cave with nothing more to go on than spare parts and components from discarded weapons. He didn’t have the luxury of being in his high-tech workstation, but yet he pulled it off.

Tony didn’t whine about his situation and instead, he made the best of what he had at the moment and powered through his personal crisis.

If there’s one important bit of motivational advice you can get from the film, it’s that you won’t have everything you need all the time.

Sometimes, you just need to suck it up and work with your circumstances rather than struggling against them.

Not everything will go your way all the time. You’ll have to rise above your difficulties and use them to make yourself a better person, be it in business or life in general.

PS. Tony Starks character apparently is loosely based of PayPal creator and Billionaire inventor Elon Musk who we have featured numerous times in the past on Addicted2Success.com, checkout his articles below:

(Video) Elon Musk – The Real Life ‘Iron Man’, Engineer, Entrepreneur & Philanthropist

The Top 5 Successful Men Who Broke The Rules

About The Author: Joel

Joel Brown is the CEO and Founder of Addicted2Success.com. With a long time passion for Entrepreneurship, Self development & Success, Joel started his website with the intention of educating and inspiring likeminded people all over the world to always strive for success no matter what their circumstances. Joel’s passion for what he does shows through the continual growth of Addicted2Success.com's online community. Follow Joel Brown on Twitter

7 Comments

Arthur R

February 2, 2012 at 2:44 pm

When I first saw the title of this article I said “WTF” no way. But yes you are right, you outlined some awesome lessons here. Iron Man is great to, can’t wait for The Avengers Movie. keep posting articles like this guys.

Reply
Dan Black

February 5, 2012 at 8:10 pm

These are some great points to know and remember. Thanks for sharing.

Reply
money

May 27, 2012 at 12:15 pm

loved this post but have to disagree with the last part Tony Stark was based on Howard Hughes the avaitor Stan Lee confirmed it during a tv interview but other than that i love your website

Reply
Hortsolutions

May 28, 2012 at 4:09 pm

Awesome! Great article and lots of inspiring phrases to keep close by during our daily business. Keep’em coming.

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Pauline

June 10, 2012 at 2:43 pm

Love this. Once again you surprised me with an insightful post, an analysis of one of my favorite super heroes that I never thought of. Thank you!

Reply
Belle

December 26, 2012 at 5:55 am

Well written article. Didn’t know I can learn a lot from Iron Man! I’m so happy to have visited your site. Awesome job and kudos to you for writing this!

Reply
- Joel
  
  December 26, 2012 at 6:24 am
  
  Thank you Belle, glad you enjoyed it
  
  Reply