What happens, with whom, in this movie and why is it entrepreneurial?
In this movie electrician, Ron Woodroof, was diagnosed with AIDS after ending up in the hospital extremely sick. He was told he had approximately 30 days left to live due to the little knowledge of treatments at the time. He did not take dying as an answer and left the country to find a doctor who had drugs that could potentially help him. He illegally took those drugs back to the United States and gave them out to others with AIDS. By doing this he created the "Dallas Buyers Club". Although Ron was making some illegal actions, he was still an entrepreneur. He found a way to help himself, make a business out of it and help others as well.
Discuss why it is interesting.
The most interesting part to me was that he didn't take the doctors word in the first place. He knew he could make it longer than 30 days and the hospital didn't have his best interest at heart. It was also interesting to see how he didn't just stop when he found something to help him, he made a living out of it while also helping others that couldn't wait around for the hospital to help. He faced many challenges, as most all entrepreneurs do, and he still managed to help so many and lived 7 years after the time limit the doctors gave him.
How does this aspect of entrepreneurship affect society?
The business Ron Woodroof created affected many people in a positive way. The hospitals did not know what they were doing at the time and were unsure how to properly treat AIDS and were killing people in the process of trying. The drugs Woodroof distributed had positive affect on those with AIDS and saved many lives. If it weren't for him taking a very risky step by illegally bring in those medications, along with standing up to the FDA, those lives would not have been saved. It could have also taken a lot longer for society to find what medication best treat patients with AIDS and what medications were actually causing them to get worse.
How does society affect this aspect of entrepreneurship?
Society is what made Ron Woodroof successful and able to run this business. If society wouldn't have trusted him he would not have been able to sell those many drugs that he brought back to Texas. Also, the hospitals not have the proper knowledge to treat patients brought more patients to Woodroof which is what boomed his business. His business was solely customer based, without them, their health issues, and the hospitals inability to help them, he would have had no reason to start this business in the first place.
What is the interaction between this aspect of entrepreneurship and society?
The interaction between Woodroof's business and society is very serious and takes a lot of trust from customers. He was personally handing them medications to take and trusting him with the best results. Woodroof didn't have any clear evidence that he showed customers, he just explained his reasonings and knowledge and they took his word for it. The medications he gave to his consumers determined their future and health, that is a very important interaction. Overall, the relationship between his business, the "Dallas Buyers Club", and the consumers was life changing for Ron Woodroof and the patients. Entrepreneurs change society and many peoples's lives and Woodroof showed this perfectly.
