Michael Ovitz

But fascinated me that he would do that because everything about artists was, you know, built for the ages. I mean, we're looking at Art from the 18th, 17th, 16th century, right? And it's 600 years old, right? It's 500 years old. Can you tell me about Larry Gugosian? Larry was my assistant at the William Morris Agency in 1970. And he was really good. And he had a way with people. He was smart.

He was tempered aggressive. And he showed all the promise in the world. And we worked together for about a year. And he came in to see me and said, I hate this place. And I said, there's nothing to hate or love. This is a tool for you to learn. That's all it is. We're in graduate school, basically. And that's how I looked at it. I was getting a master's in entertainment there when I was 21.

He was tempered aggressive. And he showed all the promise in the world. And we worked together for about a year. And he came in to see me and said, I hate this place. And I said, there's nothing to hate or love. This is a tool for you to learn. That's all it is. We're in graduate school, basically. And that's how I looked at it. I was getting a master's in entertainment there when I was 21.

And he couldn't stand the people. He couldn't stand the backbiting. He couldn't stand the deceit, all the hallmarks of the entertainment business. He couldn't stand people not telling the truth. He didn't like the environment. And I spent a month trying to talk him out of quitting, and he finally quit. And he opened up a little poster shop in Westwood selling $20 posters of fine art.

And he couldn't stand the people. He couldn't stand the backbiting. He couldn't stand the deceit, all the hallmarks of the entertainment business. He couldn't stand people not telling the truth. He didn't like the environment. And I spent a month trying to talk him out of quitting, and he finally quit. And he opened up a little poster shop in Westwood selling $20 posters of fine art.

The rest is history. And he's a brilliant dealer. He's a very loyal guy. He's tough as nails. I mean tough. And he's a great negotiator. He has an amazing eye. His townhouse on the Upper East Side is the epitome of good taste. If you're into period furniture from the Art Deco period and great art, and it's all mixed. There's no period that stands out. He's mixed Richard Prince and Picasso.

The rest is history. And he's a brilliant dealer. He's a very loyal guy. He's tough as nails. I mean tough. And he's a great negotiator. He has an amazing eye. His townhouse on the Upper East Side is the epitome of good taste. If you're into period furniture from the Art Deco period and great art, and it's all mixed. There's no period that stands out. He's mixed Richard Prince and Picasso.

Well, he did something that I did at CA, which was, I thought, really smart to do. He didn't get the idea from me. One of his partners, Stephan Cohn, brilliant young engineer, would take one meeting every 10 minutes with an engineer. And I had an office next to him, so I'd watch this parade of young men and women sitting lined up for 10 minutes with Stephan.

Well, he did something that I did at CA, which was, I thought, really smart to do. He didn't get the idea from me. One of his partners, Stephan Cohn, brilliant young engineer, would take one meeting every 10 minutes with an engineer. And I had an office next to him, so I'd watch this parade of young men and women sitting lined up for 10 minutes with Stephan.

And he'd interview 50 engineers and take one. Wow. And he spent the time. So I asked him one day, we went to lunch, and I said, so what's the first thing? He said, well, before, he said, the first thing is I give him a question, a math question. I said, oh, give me that question. He lost me after the word the. No clue what the question said.

And he'd interview 50 engineers and take one. Wow. And he spent the time. So I asked him one day, we went to lunch, and I said, so what's the first thing? He said, well, before, he said, the first thing is I give him a question, a math question. I said, oh, give me that question. He lost me after the word the. No clue what the question said.

He said, if they don't get this question in 10 seconds, it's over. And he would throw them out. They do stuff in the engineering community that having come from entertainment. I remember when I first went up to the Valley, I went to see John Donahoe, who was running eBay. And I had two young engineers from MIT that had an unbelievable technology. And I was fresh up there. This is 20 years ago.

He said, if they don't get this question in 10 seconds, it's over. And he would throw them out. They do stuff in the engineering community that having come from entertainment. I remember when I first went up to the Valley, I went to see John Donahoe, who was running eBay. And I had two young engineers from MIT that had an unbelievable technology. And I was fresh up there. This is 20 years ago.

And I called John and I said, I want to bring these guys by. I think you guys should buy this tech before we do this startup. It's a waste of time. We're going to do the startup. It's going to be great. And then you're going to spend a fortune to buy it. And these guys are going to have money and no job. Let's buy them now.

And I called John and I said, I want to bring these guys by. I think you guys should buy this tech before we do this startup. It's a waste of time. We're going to do the startup. It's going to be great. And then you're going to spend a fortune to buy it. And these guys are going to have money and no job. Let's buy them now.

They'll make some money and you'll give them heads of the departments or something. He said, great. So we come into this meeting. We're in a conference room. John's sitting at the end. I'm at the end opposite John. Sitting next to me are my two young MIT geniuses. And John marches in four guys from his engineering department. Two of them were from India.

They'll make some money and you'll give them heads of the departments or something. He said, great. So we come into this meeting. We're in a conference room. John's sitting at the end. I'm at the end opposite John. Sitting next to me are my two young MIT geniuses. And John marches in four guys from his engineering department. Two of them were from India.

And two of them were from, one was from Stanford and one was like from the University of Illinois at Champaign. So all pedigreed guys. And they started asking my guys questions like rifle shots. And my guys are answering them. And finally, I threw my chair back. And I said, this meeting's over. Everyone's looking at me like I'm out of my mind. Even my guys.

And two of them were from, one was from Stanford and one was like from the University of Illinois at Champaign. So all pedigreed guys. And they started asking my guys questions like rifle shots. And my guys are answering them. And finally, I threw my chair back. And I said, this meeting's over. Everyone's looking at me like I'm out of my mind. Even my guys.

And one of my guys turns to me and says, what's wrong? I said, I think this is disrespectful. And he said, what are you, crazy? He said, they're trying to dig into the technology. I turned red as a bead. We finished the meeting. John walks me out, puts my arm around me. He said, welcome to the Valley. I said, is this standard? He said, get used to it. I said, this is how people treat each other.