Successful entrepreneurs behave differently than those who have seen only moderate success or are new to the vocation. Denzel Washington’s character in Gladiator II displays many of the ideal traits of an entrepreneur.
(Spoiler alert! This article reveals key plot twists of the movie, including its conclusion. Stop reading now if you have not yet seen it but intend to. If you’re hesitant to see it because of its mixed reviews, I urge you to watch the film if only to see Mr. Washington’s performance.)
First, here is a quick summary of Mr. Washington’s role: he plays Macrinus, who, when we first meet him, is a trainer of gladiators. By the end of the movie (last chance to stop reading to avoid spoilers!), he is the functional emperor of the Roman Empire. His navigation from the former to the latter shows all of the hallmarks of a successful entrepreneur.
This analogy is not perfect. Macrinus’s goal is power, not profit. One of his tools is violence, both from his own hands and through the fighters he trains. Violence plays no part in entrepreneurship. Nonetheless, when abstracted from Ancient Rome, several of his maneuvers can teach contemporary entrepreneurs some great lessons.
1. Opportunity Recognition
Before we meet him, Macrinus harbored a secret ambition for decades. He did not attempt to force his ambition prematurely until the ingredients for his success were available. To this end, it is clear that Macrinus had already formed the outline of a plan and the necessary conditions for it to work. The activation of his plan was not based on intuition; it was based on clear evidence from his environment that his chance of success was high.
Successful entrepreneurs not only have a plan for a new product but also have created a list of the necessary conditions for it to fulfill customer needs. Launching a product before that need arrives is often a fatal flaw. Using processes like the Lean Startup Method, entrepreneurs can collect evidence from potential customers to determine whether their idea has a product-market fit. This assessment should be conducted before the entrepreneur builds or launches the product.
The initial role of an entrepreneur with a plan is not to raise money or build a product or prepare to launch it. Instead, it is to have informal conversations that collect data on customer expectations, mold the plan, and then watch for subtle signals in the market to determine when to move to the next step.
2. Risk Management
Macrinus did not take brazen risks, which is often expected of entrepreneurs. Indeed, some define entrepreneurship precisely as taking risks. However, based on my research and experience, this is a myth. Successful entrepreneurs do not run toward danger. Quite the opposite, they arrange their plans and, once launched, their strategies to minimize risk. Many of the most consistently successful entrepreneurs I know are naturally very cautious.
Even when Macrinus did take risks, killing both emperors by his own hand, he pre-engineered ways to reduce his own exposure, often by maneuvering other people to give him power legitimately. For example, he gained control over the Praetorian Guards, Rome’s elite troops, by first making the leader of the Roman Senate personally indebted to him. When he subsequently asked for the Senate’s approval for his command over the military, this senator was first to support him, bringing all other votes instantly to him.
Successful entrepreneurs continually examine their environment to adapt their plans, cultivating partnerships and alliances to mitigate risk.
3. Customer Before Ego
Macrinus held an enormous ambition: to gain control over all of the Roman Empire so that he could make it go to war with itself, and thereby destroy it, eliminating what he saw as an unsalvageable totalitarian government. (See, I told you that this article contains spoilers. That’s a big one, but even larger ones follow. There is still time to eject!)
He gained power to enact the plan but never became enamored with his reputation. He did not hold power for his own glory or enrichment. Power was the means to achieve his goal.
Even after the initial signs of success, such as raising investment capital, getting promising product reviews, or achieving a high company valuation, successful entrepreneurs maintain their humility in order to focus on delighting their customers. We all know entrepreneurs whose awards or wealth have gone to their heads. They may be successful once, but this behavior, if continued, holds the seeds of their destruction. They seek wealth and power for their own sake instead of delighting their audience. They think of themselves as infallible, letting their own baseless intuition guide their decisions. They believe in their own press.
Consistently successful entrepreneurs do not bask in their accomplishments or parade their achievements in front of others. Instead, they humbly continue to focus on customer needs. They praise their teams, mentors, customers, and even their plans before they praise themselves.
4. Calm in the Face of Chaos
Many entrepreneurs believe they must show overt enthusiasm to project confidence to partners, employees, investors, and customers. I have been guilty of this confusion myself. However, more seasoned entrepreneurs understand that such excitement, however initially enticing, betrays a faulty assumption: that success will arrive quickly. Successful entrepreneurs have seen enough success—and disappointment—not to be overly excited, giddy, disappointed, or distraught. Entrepreneurs recognize that the path is an intense marathon, not a euphoric sprint.
Macrinus shows us this same calmness in the Coliseum. The emperors had misjudged public opinion. The crowd turned riotous. The emperors fled in fear. Macrinus remained, standing alone in the emperor’s box. He casually turned his back on the mob and rested his arms on one of the emperor’s chairs, unagitated, at ease. It was not a posture of arrogance or power but instead of contemplation. The mob no longer existed for him. He remained singularly focused on his plan.
A friend whose company almost died during the COVID-19 pandemic and is now doing business in 150 countries worldwide says, “It took 10 years for me to be an overnight success.”
5. Persistence for the Path, Not the Product
Evidence collected with the Lean Startup Method might conclude that an entrepreneur’s current idea is not good. Ignorant entrepreneurs ignore this data and bull ahead. Sensitive entrepreneurs abandon the idea but not the hunt for a product that solves a customer’s need. Successful entrepreneurs do not continue with a bad product; they continue to pivot, mold, adapt, and test new ideas. Failure of an idea is not considered a failure of the pursuit itself.
At the movie’s climax, Macrinus faces the protagonist in single combat. (That I’m only now mentioning the protagonist and have not even given you his own motivation shows that Denzel Washington’s acting was, for me, the singular highlight of the film.) Macrinus loses the battle. After receiving the fatal blow but before disappearing into a pool of water, his expression is not one of surprise or pain or terror or anger. He looks… irritated, as though this wound is just another tiny but surmountable challenge on the path toward his ambition. (Dear reader, if you watch the film at home, I urge you to freeze the picture to see this fleeting, subtle expression. And congratulate Mr. Washington for his skill in delivering it.)
Professors like me often get too caught up in the nuances and empiricism of entrepreneurship. We drown in theories and data, neglecting to connect our work with daily events or popular culture. Denzel Washington’s performance in Gladiator II was so subtly stunning that the analogy between the movie and my research floated out of my subconscious soon after I saw it. Such is the influence of a great actor and a great entrepreneur.
