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
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Alexis Rivas - A New Blueprint for Homebuilding - [Invest Like the Best, EP.326]
Dr. Peter Attia - The Portfolio to Live Longer - [Invest Like the Best, EP.325]
Scott Davis & Rob Wertheimer - Lessons from the Industrial Titans - [Invest Like the Best, EP.324]
Sam Hinkie, Boyd Varty, Charlie Songhurst - Trail Magic - [Invest Like the Best, EP.323]
David Senra - Passion & Pain - [Invest Like the Best, Forever Episode]
David Einhorn - The Long and Short of Investing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.322]
Avi Goldfarb - The Economic Impact of AI - [Invest Like the Best, EP.321]
Auren Hoffman - A Deep Dive on Data - [Invest Like the Best, EP.320]
Trae Stephens - Find Good Quests - [Invest Like the Best, EP.319]
Doug Leone - Lessons from a Titan - [Invest Like the Best, EP.318]
Tim Urban - Idea Labs and High-Rung Thinking - [Invest Like the Best, EP.317]
Dan Rose - How Stunning Founders Operate - [Invest Like the Best, EP.316]
Jeff Green - Modernizing Advertising - [Invest Like the Best, EP.315]
Carl Kawaja - Dealing with Regime Change - [Invest Like the Best, EP.314]
Daryl Morey - Systems Thinking in Sports - [Invest Like the Best, EP.313]
Miles Grimshaw - The DNA of Software Companies - [Invest Like the Best, EP.312]
John Fio - Creating Magic for Consumers - [Invest Like the Best, EP.311]
Amjad Masad - The Future of Software Creation - [Invest Like the Best, EP.310]
Rebecca Lynn - Finding Your Customers - [Invest Like the Best, EP.309]
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