10 TV Shows Every Entrepreneur Should Watch

We get it. You spend your days hustling and bustling, keeping your nose to the grindstone to make your business a success. There’s no such thing as weekends. There’s no such thing as “off the clock.” Every minute that passes feels like a missed opportunity for your business. It’s hard to take a break.

But here’s the deal—we all need a rest now and then. One way or another, you need some time to zone out and relax on the couch. And that’s okay! You deserve it!

Next time you’re about to drop from the exhaustion of your busy entrepreneurial life, enjoy some guilt-free downtime with a few of these inspirational and (at least somewhat) educational TV shows every entrepreneur should watch.

1. Shark Tank

Want to know if your business idea can hold its weight? Watch Shark Tank. Then write up your elevator pitch and imagine delivering it to these top-notch investors on national TV. If you watch enough episodes and can be disciplined to evaluate your pitch from an objective viewpoint, you can imagine what Kevin O’Leary, or Mark Cuban, or any of the Sharks would say.

If you don’t have a great business mentor in your life, watching this show and evaluating your own pitch with a “What Would the Sharks Do?” perspective is a great way to be your own mentor.

2. The Newsroom

If you haven’t yet seen Aaron Sorkin’s series The Newsroom, do yourself a favor and borrow your Uncle’s HBO GO password for a weekend binge. One could argue that Sloan Sabbith’s (played by Olivia Munn) first season storyline alone provides the most concise yet comprehensive explanation of the financial crisis that we’ve seen. As a whole, the series’ intelligent dramatization of the relationships between the government, news media, and private financial markets make it a great edutainment pick.

3. The Profit

What if you don’t have a new and Shark-worthy business idea poised for growth? What if you have an existing business, but you’re struggling to break even? CNBC’s The Profit is a great place to learn what you can do to improve. In each episode, host Marcus Lemonis offers struggling small businesses capital investment and his expertise in exchange for an ownership share in their company.

While watching this show won’t give you a quick boost in capital, you may recognize some of the issues that business owners are dealing with as familiar to your own business. Maybe some of Marcus’ advice will offer you a Profit-able solution.

4. House of Lies

Featuring the oh-so-funny Don Cheadle and Kristen Bell, Showtime’s House of Lies is a hilarious take on the world of management consultants. These people can spin anything to make a buck off business owners looking for some solid advice.

As much as our first three recommendations should be genuinely educational in a business sense, please always watch this next show with a big helping of satire and a giant grain of salt.

We’re not saying that these lying, cheating fools are representative of every (or any) real-life consultants, but the show will make you laugh … and make you a little wary of whom you hire for business advice.

5. Undercover Boss

A huge part of being a great entrepreneur is being a great leader. And to be a great leader, you need to understand and appreciate your team and the work they do. Undercover Boss is a revealing look at what CEOs learn when they spend some time in their employees’ shoes. For CEOs on the show, the experience is typically profound and often leads to tears. Catch a few episodes of this CBS show and consider what blind spots you might have about what your team goes through from day to day.

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6. Silicon Valley

Whether or not your business is in the tech industry, the new world of marketing and online sales means that every entrepreneur needs to know a thing or two about web and software development. While this HBO series is clearly fictional, it does present some interesting insight into the world of Silicon Valley. If nothing else, you’ll at least pick up on some basic industry jargon.

7. The Rise to the Top

If you love learning from the true experiences of fellow entrepreneurs who have made it, the web-only series The Rise to the Top is a great pick. Host and producer David Siteman Garland (author of Smarter, Faster, Cheaper) has interviewed over 250 successful entrepreneurs, and offers strategic business lessons in each episode as he unveils the secrets to their success.

8. Orange Is the New Black

If you don’t instantly know why the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black is an entrepreneur’s must-see, clearly you’ve never met Red. Played by Kate Mulgrew, Galina "Red" Reznikov may be one of the most innovative entrepreneurs the world has ever seen. This woman is a wealth of wisdom on everything from effective team leadership to supply chain management. Because if you can make a profit in prison, you really can make it anywhere.

9. Keeping Up with the Kardashians

Stop! Before you dismiss this entire article about TV shows every entrepreneur should watch based on this recommendation alone, hear me out. Yes, watching too much Keeping Up With the Kardashians will, in fact, result in brain cell loss. So watch this show in moderation. But anyone who can turn a leaked "personal" tape into a multimillion-dollar family franchise is worth keeping an eye on. Don’t you think?

10. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Admittedly, John Oliver isn’t going to give you a specifically in-depth entrepreneurial education. What he will do, however, is make you laugh, teach you something new, and offer you a great small talk platform for your next networking event. Oliver frequently explores fascinating topics not typically covered by the traditional news, or even the parody news media—making Last Week Tonight with John Oliver both interesting, informative, and just plain hilarious. If you haven’t seen it, trust us. You’ll soon be setting your DVR for this cult favorite.

Enjoy these TV shows every entrepreneur should watch

There you have it. With such a variety to choose from, we hope you’ll find at least one show that strikes your fancy. So go take a break! And while you’re at it, learn something new for your business.