Entrepreneurship can be a terrifying prospect for some and a riveting adventure for others. The individuals with the courage to pursue the nuanced ups and downs of the business world often have interesting stories, and Alyssa Fedele and Zachary Fink’s Any Problem is No Problem gives us a crisp 90 minutes to tell a few of those stories.

While this documentary begins with a background and explanation of cryptocurrencies, such as  Bitcoin, it quickly proffers the true appeal of this story–the human interest aspect of five young entrepreneurs pursuing their own digital endeavors in the business world. We have Brandon Tory, co-founder of Formless; Chris Lee and Ryan Ouyang, co-founders of IYK; and Adam Levy and Ellie Farrisi, co-founders of Bello. Fedele and Fink follow these five entrepreneurs as they attend classes and presentations with a16z crypto, a crypto startup accelerator, to help refine their business acumen, their digital prowess, and their investor pitches, all leading up to the highly anticipated Demo Day at the end of three months. 

While I didn’t feel this documentary deep dives into the nuances of cryptocurrency and the crypto industry as much as I assumed it would, it does brilliantly use the crypto startup as a nice backdrop to show us the hard work and determination of these young entrepreneurs who are excited to more further into the digital age, including with cryptocurrency. 

This is an easily digestible and light-hearted documentary that gives deeper insight into its subjects, their support systems, and their goals, making it very easy for the audience to identify with them–even easier when you get to see a couple of them wearing goofy, but endearing mushroom hats. Fedele and Fink make documentary filmmaking look effortless, as they craft a clear story and narrative with personable subjects and the pressing deadline of Demo Day to act as our climax of the story. As we progress with our subjects throughout the three months of preparing for Demo Day, we become more invested, especially as they all have to face the collective fear of anyone who ever attended high school–a presentation in front of a large crowd of people.

Brandon Tory articulates an idea that both he and I in the digital age might feel: A lot of people feel left behind by these larger corporations and figures controlling the tools to create and distribute content online. Tory explains this is his reasoning behind creating FORMLESS, a tool he created to help online creators and artists establish their own systems for getting paid and getting royalties from their creations, an endeavor that I think most would appreciate as being much needed. 

Chris Lee and Ryan Ouyang are friends who have endeavored to create IYK, a company focused on creating digital experiences with tangible items through the use of chips. These two are a generation apart, a fact that is touched upon when they note that Lee was in 11th grade when Ouyang was five years old. Their differences don’t stop there as Ouyang jokingly points out that Lee is “boujee” and that before he met Lee, Ouyang didn’t really know what Prada is (a point that leads to them later exploring the Prada Marfa art piece). However, despite their differences, it’s clear that these two IYK co-founders are very close, as the film shows them joking around, playing golf, and riding around in a stylish pink golf cart in between their work for Demo Day. 

Adam Levy and Ellie Farrisi are the co-founders of Bello, who are clearly excited for this adventure together. Levy, who hosts his own podcast, keeps reiterating how he’s just a podcaster and feels so honored to be chosen for this opportunity. Farrisi is just as excited and gets to tell her own backstory of growing up and the hardships that she’s faced in a sequence that the filmmakers handled with care and compassion. Together, these two show a lot of enthusiasm about this three-month process and are constantly reaching out to different members of their support system to get thoughts and opinions for their Demo Day presentation, all to be topped off with the wonderful aforementioned mushroom hats.

While my lack of tech prowess may have left me in the dark on some of their initiatives and the jargon used all throughout, the filmmakers made an endearing story of five interesting people who I would have been happy to follow for more than the hour and a half this movie gives. I do wish we had more moments of camaraderie and that Demo Day had been given more attention. Demo Day is ultimately the natural climax of the story this documentary is telling, and yet it feels like it comes and goes too quickly. Overall, the most wonderful part of this film is the focus it gives us on these five individuals and how, in just an hour and a half, it endears us to their personal goals.

In short, Fedele and Fink humanize their subjects very well and give a wider scope to tech entrepreneurs. Perhaps this is my sign to finally make my own tech startup.

Review Courtesy of Tate Fowler

Feature Image Courtesy of LFG Productions