Tech Tales
Smart, Funny, and True(ish) Stories from the Tech Frontier: Binge-Worthy Shows and Films About Startups and Disruption
In a blog usually packed with market analyses and startup strategies, let's switch gears for something lighter: a curated roundup of TV shows and movies that dive into the wild world of tech giants and iconic products.
These picks aren't just popcorn entertainment, they offer a sharp, revealing looks at the ambition, absurdity, and drama that fuel innovation. From satirical send-ups of startup chaos to true tales of billion-dollar busts, they remind us that behind every app and gadget are flawed humans, epic egos, and lessons in what not to do.
Grab your remote, and let's geek out!
TV Shows:
Silicon Valley (HBO)
Probably the most popular TV show in this list, and perhaps the most accurate and funniest portrayal of startup life ever put on screen.
A satirical comedy series about awkward coders launching a startup in the cutthroat world of tech incubators, facing funding fights, pivot disasters, and rival billionaires. Offers lots of awkward genius humor, and highlights how absurd ideas can spark billion-dollar empires.
Mythic Quest (2020-2025, Apple TV+)
A sharp workplace comedy following the dysfunctional team at a fictional video game studio behind the hit MMORPG Mythic Quest. They navigate expansions, bugs, egos, and industry drama while trying to keep the game on top. Stars Rob McElhenney as narcissistic creative director Ian Grimm, Charlotte Nicdao as brilliant engineer Poppy Li, Danny Pudi as scheming monetization head Brad Bakshi, and a stellar ensemble including Ashly Burch, Jessie Ennis, Imani Hakim, and David Hornsby.
Worth watching for its spot-on satire of tech and especially gaming culture, laugh on product roadmaps, live ops, and all the tech buzzwords. Created by the same core creative team behind It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, proving tech comedies can have soul. (although some of the characters here don’t have, I still love them all)
The Dropout (2022, Hulu / Disney+)
This scripted miniseries dives into the wild rise and epic fall of Elizabeth Holmes and her startup Theranos, which promised revolutionary blood tests but delivered one of Silicon Valley’s biggest frauds.
Amanda Seyfried shines as Holmes, capturing her notorious voice and unblinking stare, with Naveen Andrews (Sayid Jarrah from Lost) and Stephen Fry adding gravitas.
Worth watching because it shows how hype, ambition, and charisma can override reality. It nails how charisma can blind investors, showing why "fake it till you make it" sometimes crashes hard.
The Playlist (2022, Available on Netflix)
This one was the most surprising, and the most unique in the way the story is told.
This Swedish miniseries unpacks the founding story of Spotify, with a clever narrative twist: each episode tells the story from a different stakeholder’s perspective (founders, investors, lawyers, artists). In the background we get a glance of the happy days of the thriving “PirateBay” and collapsing music publishers. By shifting perspectives each episode, it highlights how innovation often involves clashing egos, much like the playlist wars that shaped modern music consumption. Also, it reveals how every player (stakeholder) saw a different “truth” in Spotify’s success, and that “truth” (or even a story) always has many shades and different points of view.
WeCrashed (2022, Apple TV+)
“A love story worth $47 billion”. Based on the rise and implosion of WeWork, this drama stars Jared Leto as founder Adam Neumann and Anne Hathaway as his wife and partner Rebekah (maybe one of the best power couple figures in tech).
It’s worth watching not only for the eccentric performances (especially of Leto and his broken Israeli accent), but for its depiction of how charisma plus vague “community” ideals managed to charm investors, until the failed IPO brought it crashing down. A mix of romance, hubris, and business chaos, sounds like fun when you are not actually part of it.
Super Pumped (2022, Showtime)
A high-octane miniseries about Uber and its controversial founder Travis Kalanick , played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, with Uma Thurman and Kyle Chandler as key players. It dives into boardroom battles, regulatory clashes, and Kalanick’s eventual ouster. It’s a wild ride with sharp commentary on the “move fast, break things” mentality that tech culture often celebrates, until reality catches up. Perfect if you love underdog-to-villain arcs.
Halt and Catch Fire (2014-2017, AMC)
A fictional series, but incredibly grounded in reality. Set in the 1980s–90s, it follows visionaries, engineers, and dreamers during the birth of the personal computer, the rise of networking, and eventually the early internet. Some say it's like Mad Men but with motherboards, armed with retro nostalgia. It cleverly mirrors real events (like the Compaq story), reminding us that today's tech giants started as garage rebellions against the establishment.
Fans love it for its character depth — the startup ambition, burnout, and risky bets are all there. Maybe it’s more of a love letter to the builders behind the machines.
The Billion Dollar Code (2021, Available on Netflix)
Based on a real story. A gripping German miniseries about the inventors of Terravision (an early 3D Earth-mapping tech) and their legal showdown with Google, claiming theft for Google Earth. It’s both a courtroom drama and a reflection on David vs. Goliath struggles in tech, with east german '90s hacker vibes.
Based on true events, it exposes the shadowy side of IP battles in tech, showing how big corps can "borrow" ideas and leave creators in the dust.
The Corporate (2018-2020, Comedy Central)
A sharp, dark comedy about life within a giant soulless conglomerate that feels way too recognizable if you’ve ever worked in tech or media. It parodies everything from pointless product launches to leadership jargon and has plenty of sly nods to real platforms. It’s a kind of a twisted office satire, but much darker and sharper on corporate absurdity.
The IT Crowd (2006-2013)
Not new, but well known and successful. This British sitcom hilariously follows the misadventures of an IT support team in a dysfunctional corporation, dealing with clueless bosses and bizarre tech glitches. Chris O’Dowd, Richard Ayoade, and Katherine Parkinson make up one of TV’s quirkiest trios. Yes, it’s silly, but if you’ve ever worked in tech support, you’ll recognize half the jokes (lots of "Have you tried turning it off and on again?" moments).
The Movies
The Social Network (2010)
The best movie in this list, well acted, well scripted, and brilliant directing.
The definitive film on the founding of Facebook. Jesse Eisenberg plays an awkward but brilliant Mark Zuckerberg, with Andrew Garfield (Spiderman) as Eduardo Saverin and Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker (the slick Napster guy). With Aaron Sorkin’s machine-gun dialogue and David Fincher’s fantastic direction, it’s sharp, fast, and surprisingly emotional.
Fun side note: for a few years, I got confused by Eisenberg for the actual Zuckerberg.
Steve Jobs (2015)
Forget the Ashton Kutcher version, this one is so much better. This is the Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, and Seth Rogen one, directed by Danny Boyle with a script by Aaron Sorkin (based on Walter Isaacson’s biography). The film is structured around three Apple product launches, making it feel realistic, and also closer to theater. Dialogue-driven, dramatic, and deeply human—it presents Jobs as more complex than the usual “visionary genius” stereotype.
BlackBerry (2023, IFC Films, Available on Netflix)
The rise and spectacular rise and crash of the BlackBerry phone, once the king of smartphones. Jay Baruchel plays the geeky co-founder Mike Lazaridis, while Glenn Howerton steals the show as aggressive exec Jim Balsillie.
Watch for the fast-paced energy and '00s nostalgia, and with what we know today, it’s watching a tragic comedy about tech's "what if" moments. Also it gives a spotlight on the forgotten pioneers, and shows how innovation inertia (hello, physical keyboards) can doom even the mightiest gadgets.
Tetris (2023, Apple TV+)
Not a game movie, but a corporate thriller. Taron Egerton stars as the man fighting to secure Tetris rights during the Cold War, involving Nintendo (right before launching “GameBoy”), Soviet authorities (ELORG), and massive stakes for the Game Boy launch. It’s tense, surprisingly funny, and worth it just to see businessmen navigate Soviet bureaucracy. Based on true events, it reveals how a simple puzzle game became a global phenomenon amid geopolitical chaos, proving IP wars can be as intense as blockbuster battles.
Pirate of Silicon Valley (1999)
Before all these streaming-era dramas, this made-for-TV movie (you can also call it cheeky docudrama) gave us the first big dramatization of tech icons. Noah Wyle plays Steve Jobs, and Anthony Michael Hall plays Bill Gates, and Joey Slotnick adds flair as Steve Wozniak. It's a fun, nostalgic watch for the '80s tech drama, showing how "pirating" ideas (like Xerox's GUI) birthed modern computing, humanizing the icons behind our screens. Old-school production values, but fascinating as a time capsule.
The Great Hack (2019, Netflix)
This eye-opening documentary unravels the Cambridge Analytica scandal, exposing how data harvesting influenced elections and shaped social media's dark underbelly through whistleblowers and victims' stories. Features real figures like Brittany Kaiser and Carole Cadwalladr, narrated with chilling clarity.
It dives into the "data is the new oil" era, revealing how algorithms can manipulate democracy, with timely warnings about privacy in a post-Facebook world (imagine a pre TikTok world). In conclusion: nothing is really for “free”, there’s always a cost.
Did you have more recommendation to this list?
Leave a comment, we will be glad to add it.