HBO Show on Entrepreneurship Highlights Interesting Questions

HBO’s new show ‘How to Make it in America’ is pretty good. Doesn’t make the life of an entrepreneur look glamorous by any means but its set in New York so it makes it look pretty cool. We’re introduced to our two main characters Ben and Cam. From what we can gather, Ben is an aspiring artist who often gets pulled into Cam’s scams. We see Ben’s apartment full of skateboards and then find out Cam owes his cousin $5K. So Ben and Cam buy some bootleg leather jackets and borrow the rest of the money from a guy from Ben’s highschool who has a hedge fund. I like the interaction between Cam and their friend GiGi’s dad the most. There is a scene in which Cam starts pitching ideas to Gigi’s dad that goes like this.
Cam: “It’s Cold Stone Creamery but for donuts. I call it Build a Nut.”
Gigi’s Dad: “No Cam.”
Cam: “You pick your own toppings. Caramel frosted for the dudes. And strawberry flavored high heel sprinkles for the ladies.”
Gigi’s Dad: “Nooo. You keep coming to me with these crazy ideas and maybe some of them might be good. But everybody’s got ideas. Nobody wants to put in the work. Don’t tell me what you are going to do. Show me what you’ve done and then maybe finally I’ll write you that check.”
Cam: “How many zeroes on that check?”
I think that one scene sums up what I’ve seen from the last few months since I’ve ventured into the entrepreneurial community. VCs, Angels, everyone wants to be shown what you’ve done. How much of your own time and money have you invested? One of the most important questions entrepreneurs are asked is how much they have already committed to their idea, i.e. have you quit your job? How long have you worked without pay on this? For how long are you willing to work without pay? Ultimately, it’s about passion and sincerity — why should an investor or mentor care enough about your idea to take a risk on it if you haven’t?
The pilot of “How to Make it in America” is on YouTube. If you’ve seen it, what do you think? Do you think they could have set the show in Boston? Cambridge?