Perhaps an obvious choice given the film's startup-based setting, David Fincher's 2010 character study of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg nonetheless has plenty to offer from a leadership perspective. Interestingly, each of the proposed leaders demonstrates a different management approach throughout the film; for instance, Sean Parker (played by Justin Timberlake), is a fast-talking, confident hustler who has an undoubted visionary streak but possesses poor management skills. The Winklevoss twins, meanwhile, exhibit strength in their ability to work as a team, but ultimately lean too heavily on the broader institutions that support them. Which, of course, leaves Jesse Eisenberg's Zuckerberg – a cocky, unlikeable authoritarian whose ruthless and intuitive decision-making skills see him emerge as the film's (and the real-life company's) victor. While the machinations of the original legal dispute over Facebook's ownership are dramatised, there are still several insightful takeaways in The Social Network, not least of which is its depiction of the sheer excitement of building your own business empire from scratch.

It shows that success is about more than just having a great idea. Identifying a need for a product or service creates an opportunity – but it doesn’t tell the whole story. The choices you then make in how you grow that idea will determine whether your journey will ultimately lead to success or failure. In Zuckerberg’s case, self-belief and determination helped him ultimately defeat anyone else who would have taken his crown.