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
Ron Howard and Brian Grazer - Box Office Business - [Invest Like the Best, EP.305]
Shane Battier - The No-Stats All-Star - [Invest Like the Best, EP.304]
Parker Conrad - Building a Compound Company - [Invest Like the Best, EP.303]
Bob Elliott - A Macro Tour - [Invest Like the Best, EP.302]
Kirsten Green - Investing in Consumer Change - [Invest Like the Best, EP.301]
Jason Droege - Building Uber Eats - [Invest Like the Best, EP.300]
Paul Orfalea - It’s About the Money - [Invest Like the Best, EP.299]
Madhavan Ramanujam - How to Price Products - [Invest Like the Best, EP.298]
Scott Wilson - Non-Traditional Endowment Investing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.297]
Julio Vasconcellos & Mate Pencz - Investing in Latin America - [Invest Like the Best, EP.296]
Trina Spear - Billion Dollar Scrubs - [Invest Like the Best, EP.295]
Gabriel Leydon - How Web3 Onboards a Billion Users - [Web3 Breakdowns, EP.37]
Harley Finkelstein - Building the Entrepreneurship Company - [Invest Like the Best, EP.294]
Mitch Lasky - The Business of Gaming - [Invest Like the Best, EP.293]
David Senra - Passion & Pain - [Invest Like the Best, EP.292]
Robert Smith - Investing in Enterprise Software - [Invest Like the Best, EP.291]
Katherine Boyle - Investing for America - [Invest Like the Best, EP.290]
Ravi Gupta - Focus - [Invest Like the Best, EP.289]
Will Thorndike - The Power of Long Holding Periods - [Invest Like the Best, EP.288]
Alok Vasudev - Searching for White Space - [Invest Like the Best, EP.287]
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