The Fountainhead (1949) is a movie about a struggling architect who moves up the ranks to achieve his goal. Howard Roark is an aspiring architect that believes in his work and does not allow compromise. Howard Roark First setback is when he is expelled from an architecture school for not adhering to the stylistic choices of his professors. Howard then applies to be an apprentice for a known modern architecture firm and is accepted. Through the years he eventually takes control and applies his own knowledge and lands some contracts. Unfortunately, the cash flow was not enough to keep his business afloat. After losing a big contract after failing to cooperate with the clients he decides that he would rather do menial labor that compromises his vision. After a while of back-breaking quarry labor, he is called back to new york to construct an apartment building. This building is his headway back into the industry. The apartment complex had stirred criticism from his peers and his reputation was damaged resulting in fewer contracts over the next few years. Slowly but surely he builds back up starting with small jobs and progressing into big jobs cementing his architectural prowess in the industry. Howard eventually finds controversy when he agrees to design an apartment complex for a struggling college on the condition that he doesn't allow compromise to happen. Alterations were made to the design so Howard takes it into his own hands and destroys the complex and is held for trials. Howard is found innocent cleaning that it was his design that he could do what he pleases.
Entrepreneurship is the core of the business. Howard Roark was not the first person to design a modern building that people have not seen before. His predecessor Henry Cameron had tried to make modern buildings that did not incorporate design features from centuries past. Henry Cameron was ahead of his time and the market was not ready for his innovation. Howard Roark is attempting to capitalize on the market but the public and his peers view this as a waste of time and effort. Persistence of Innovation can be challenging. Some people have the philosophy to fail quickly so the losses are minimized but Howard believed in his product and stuck to his guns. This allowed people to see and interact with his work to decide if they like this style of architecture. People (Society) typically do not know what they want or need. A consumer does not know what the next big product will be in 10 years. Entrepreneurs do not know either. An entrepreneur has to speculate what consumers will want to purchase. New innovations happen all the time but are not always implemented or marketed to consumers right. For instance, the first cars were very primitive and very expensive so consumers preferred the traditional horse and carriage. As the technology matured and manufacturing processes improved the consumers valued a car more than a horse and carriage. If Henry Ford had seen the vehicle industry and decided that it was not profitable based on previous attempts at market implementation then the vehicle industry might not be as prominent as it is today.
