Michael Ovitz - Turning Potential into Prominence - [Invest Like the Best, EP.418]
Episode publishedPodcast: Invest Like the Best with Patr...Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy
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Something I speak about frequently on Invest Like the Best is the idea of life's work. A more fun way to think about it is that I'm looking for maniacs on a mission. This is the basis for our investment firm, Positive Sum, and it's the reason why I'm so enthusiastic about our presenting sponsor, Ramp. Not only are the founders, Kareem and Eric, life's work level founders, certainly maniacs on a mission, they have created a product that is effectively an unlock for founders and finance team to do more of their life's work by streamlining financial operations, saving everyone their most precious
Patrick O'Shaughnessy is the CEO of Positive Sum. All opinions expressed by Patrick and podcast guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of Positive Sum. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions. Clients of Positive sum may maintain positions in the securities discussed in this podcast. To learn more, visit psum.vc. My
guest today is Michael Ovitz. Michael is the legendary talent agent and cofounder of CAA, or Creative Artists Agency, and he is joining me on Invest Like the Best for the second time. Michael started CAA in 1975, and over the next twenty years, built it into the world's most formidable talent agency, changing Hollywood forever. He He shares his insights into how he identifies exceptional people across diverse fields, from Hollywood Directors like Steven Spielberg to tech founders like Alex Karp of Palantir and venture capitalists like Marc Andreessen. Michael is a force whose expertise extends
Let's take MoMA because it's a it's right here in town down the street and it's a phenomenal institution. I mean, it's a place. I've been on the board for thirty five years. I have, So
cool.
I go there sometimes to just unwind, believe it or not. There were two places I went to in the last forty years in New York City to unwind. One was MoMA. When I had an hour between meetings or even a half hour, I'd fly in there and just sit in one of the galleries and take in the just extraordinary stimuli of creativity and say to myself, you know, what were these people thinking? When did they do this? What influenced them? How did they come up with this idea? Why is it, different, better than anything else in its genre? Which when you look at MoMA, they have the best of the best, which is as
Other questions.
Yeah. And that was what the lunch was about. I hosted him at my house. He brought, like, five different associates of his. And I said, look, the thing that defines great cities at the end of the day is the cultural aspects and the sporting aspects, the places where people gather. So you could have a great city that's beautiful. The architecture is amazing, but there's no cultural ethos in it. So if you look at the best cities in the world from New York to London to Paris, they are loaded with cultural initiatives and people can get lost in them. I mean, I don't go to any to Paris or London wit
You need like a founder in that role.
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