Here are 6 of the most compelling series about real life events and the powerful personalities behind some of the world’s ubiquitous startup companies .
1. WeCrashed
WeCrashed chronicles the rise and fall of WeWork. The series details the founding and downfall of the unicorn co-working space complete with outrageous stories of excessiveness in between.
The story is set against the backdrop of Adam and Rebekah Neumann’s relationship -convincingly played by veterans Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway, as they embark to “elevate the world’s consciousness” by selling communal work spaces as a modern lifestyle alternative to smart-working millennials.
The series is based on the podcast WeCrashed: The Rise and Fall of WeWork by Wondery, and is available on AppleTV+.
2. The Dropout
The Dropout outlines the tragic story of Theranos. The series is centered around the story of the ambitious/villainous female tech entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes as she evolved from an A-student to a disgraced CEO.
Watch Amanda Seyfried’s compelling transformation to Elizabeth from her physical appearance to the iconic made-up baritone. The series expounds on Theranos’ failed quest to revolutionize the blood testing industry at the expense of numerous innocent people involving actual patients across multiple states in the US.
The series is based on the podcast The Dropout hosted by Rebecca Jarvis, and is available on Hulu.
3. Super Pumped: The Battle For Uber
Super Pumped is an anthology about tech entrepreneurs and startup with The Battle for Uber as its first installment. The series outlines events from the founding of the company to its bid for initial public offering.
Joseph-Goron Levitt headlines the series as the toxic, and at times tyrant, CEO of Uber – Travis Kalanick. The episodes give a glimpse of the work-hard-party-harder and macho culture common in most tech start-ups. The series also puts the spotlight on the many instances Uber tried to bend the law across the globe to favor its business model instead of complying.
The series is based on Mike Isaac’s book of the same title, and is available on Showtime.
4. Playlist
Playlist explores the story of Spotify – from its humble beginnings to an imagined future where it holds a crucial monopoly over artists and the music industry. The series touches upon the universal dilemma of balancing idealism versus profitability in businesses – which is even more crucial to disruptive startups.
Unlike the serialized drama format of most series, Playlist has a unique storytelling approach where each episode is narrated through a point of view of a singular character; showcasing his or her involvement in the rise of the music giant – all the while maintaining a linear narrative. Each episode ends with a bold claim that the truth is different from what you have just seen with a premise of divulging a more accurate account of what really happened onto the next story.
The series is based on the book Spotify Untold by Sven Carlsson and Jonas Leijonhufvud, and is a Netflix original limited series.
5. Billion Dollar Code
Billion Dollar Code dramatizes the patent infringement case against Google in 2014 alleging that Google Earth was built upon the source code of TerraVision created by the German company, ART+COM.
The series reveals fictionalized accounts based on true events fronted by German actors. Major characters in the series, including ART+COM founders, are representations of multiple real life people. The mini-series shows the painful truth of competing against a giant with deep financial backing and has the first to market leverage – a classic David and Goliath story where you’d mostly likely be rooting for the underdog.
The series has used portions of trial transcripts of the case that lasted until 2017 and is available on Netflix.
Photos from Unsplash https://unsplash.com/photos/GHX68AmE1gQ and official images from each title’s streaming platforms.
