Invest Like the Best with Patrick O’Shaughnessy
Business:Investing
My guest today is Michael Ovitz. Michael is the legendary talent agent and co-founder of CAA, or Creative Artists Agency. Michael started CAA in 1975 and over the next twenty years, he built it into the world’s most formidable talent agency, changing Hollywood forever. The list of stars he’s worked with is endless, from Meryl Streep to Steven Spielberg and David Letterman.
Since leaving CAA, he has become an investor and adviser to many prominent firms, most notably Andreessen Horowitz, and Michael’s work ethic is unmatched. Please enjoy this great discussion with Michael Ovitz.
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For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.
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Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.
Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.
Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com).
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Show Notes:
(00:03:23) - Something other people believe about Michael that isn’t true
(00:08:21) - Balancing the love of his career with his personal life
(00:13:33) - The return of his work ethic after an overdue break
(00:25:08) - Why scale and speed were critical to CAA’s success
(00:29:31) - How founders and CEOs might benefit from having agents
(00:36:10) - The idea of positional power
(00:41:52) - Making over 250 calls for 30 years
(00:48:02) - Never bad mouthing the competition
(00:49:34) - Defining characteristics of CAA’s company culture
(00:53:07) - Learning to spot talent quickly
(00:58:24) - If you want to be happy, forget yourself
(01:01:52) - Forgetting yourself by taking action
(01:07:02) - Page turning excitement versus slow burning engagement
(01:12:31) - Looking for similar patterns in investors and creatives
(01:16:16) - What a problem solver needs to build a franchise
(01:20:12) - CAA’s mystique and how Michael cultivated it
(01:26:11) - Relationships are always the most important thing
(01:28:55) - Thoughts on offensive investing strategies
(01:30:22) - What art has taught him about the world
(01:36:46) - Being fearless in confrontation
(01:39:55) - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for Michael
Madhavan Ramanujam - How to Price Products - [Invest Like the Best, REPLAY]
Daryl Morey - Systems Thinking in Sports - [Invest Like the Best, REPLAY]
Erik Serrano - Investing in Investment Firms - [Invest Like the Best, EP.358]
Doug Leone - Lessons from a Titan - [Invest Like the Best, REPLAY]
Justin Ishbia - Lessons from Acquiring 586 Companies - [Invest Like the Best, EP.357]
Gavin Uberti - Real-Time AI & The Future of AI Hardware - [Invest Like the Best, EP.356]
A Conversation with Charlie Munger & John Collison - [Invest Like the Best, EP.355]
Peter Fenton & Victor Lazarte - Purpose and Partnership - [Invest Like the Best, EP.354]
Lior Susan - Leave the World Better than You Found It - [Invest Like the Best, EP.353]
Brad Jacobs - Think Big and Move Fast - [Invest Like the Best, EP.352]
Elizabeth Zalman & Jerry Neumann - Founder vs Investor - [Invest Like the Best, EP.351]
Palmer Luckey - Inventing the Future of Defense - [Invest Like the Best, EP.350]
Aswath Damodaran - Making Sense of the Market Pt. 2 - [Invest Like the Best, EP.349]
Patrick Collison & John Collison - A Business State of Mind - [Invest Like the Best, EP.348]
Strauss Zelnick - Playing to Your Strengths - [Invest Like the Best, EP.347]
Rick Buhrman & Paul Buser - Find Your X, Nurture Your N - [Invest Like the Best, EP.346]
Jack Altman & Miles Grimshaw - Building and Investing in Lattice - [Invest Like the Best, EP.345]
Michael Simanovsky - A Platform Approach to Real Estate - [Invest Like the Best, EP.344]
David Senra - In Service of Founders - [Invest Like the Best, EP.343]
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