Michael Ovitz

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.

He said, oh, this was nice. And I learned the hard way. And by the way, they bought the business. I learned the hard way that it's not off limits to ask tough questions. And I kind of ask those questions quietly. I don't ask them. I manipulate my way around it in a meeting.

He said, oh, this was nice. And I learned the hard way. And by the way, they bought the business. I learned the hard way that it's not off limits to ask tough questions. And I kind of ask those questions quietly. I don't ask them. I manipulate my way around it in a meeting.

So to directly answer your question, my checklist is a series of things that fit into my cognitive frame of reference that is weighted, predicated on previous experiences, how the person behaves, what their interests are, what their social capacity is. It doesn't have to be great in the traditional way. What their quest for knowledge is. Are they motivated? Do they want to work hard?

So to directly answer your question, my checklist is a series of things that fit into my cognitive frame of reference that is weighted, predicated on previous experiences, how the person behaves, what their interests are, what their social capacity is. It doesn't have to be great in the traditional way. What their quest for knowledge is. Are they motivated? Do they want to work hard?

Do they enjoy working? Why are they working? What's the goal? And what's their raw processing power? In 1999, I got a cold call from Mark Andreessen, and he asked to meet me. And I met him for lunch. I budgeted an hour. I'm not a long lunch guy. And I'm not a long Zoom guy. You're not a long anything guy. I'm not long on anything because I think it's a complete waste of time. It's a podcast.

Do they enjoy working? Why are they working? What's the goal? And what's their raw processing power? In 1999, I got a cold call from Mark Andreessen, and he asked to meet me. And I met him for lunch. I budgeted an hour. I'm not a long lunch guy. And I'm not a long Zoom guy. You're not a long anything guy. I'm not long on anything because I think it's a complete waste of time. It's a podcast.

It's a podcast. But I'm not in control here, Patrick. You are. So I went and met with Mark at some place called Hugo's in West Hollywood. Mark comes rolling in in a pair of shorts, a plaid shirt. and mismatching socks and horrible shoes. And we sat down and I'm saying to myself, oh my God, what have I gotten myself into here? 15 minutes into the conversation, I'm in a state of shock.

It's a podcast. But I'm not in control here, Patrick. You are. So I went and met with Mark at some place called Hugo's in West Hollywood. Mark comes rolling in in a pair of shorts, a plaid shirt. and mismatching socks and horrible shoes. And we sat down and I'm saying to myself, oh my God, what have I gotten myself into here? 15 minutes into the conversation, I'm in a state of shock.

I'm sitting with one of the smartest human beings I've ever talked to. Now, bear in mind, my best friend at the time was a guy named Michael Crichton. You can't get any smarter than that or more curious or more interesting to sit around. I'm sitting with his match, maybe better. And three and a half hours went by in five minutes. And he said at the end, he said, would you like to join my board?

I'm sitting with one of the smartest human beings I've ever talked to. Now, bear in mind, my best friend at the time was a guy named Michael Crichton. You can't get any smarter than that or more curious or more interesting to sit around. I'm sitting with his match, maybe better. And three and a half hours went by in five minutes. And he said at the end, he said, would you like to join my board?

And I said, why? I'm a raving idiot compared to you. And I don't know anything about technology. He said, that's exactly what I want on my board. I want someone who's not afraid to stand up to all these tech geeks that are on my board.

And I said, why? I'm a raving idiot compared to you. And I don't know anything about technology. He said, that's exactly what I want on my board. I want someone who's not afraid to stand up to all these tech geeks that are on my board.

For me, time's the foundation of everything. Then relationship, because I can't get the relationship without the time. If I make a mistake, when I met you, I didn't know if I wanted to do your podcast. I didn't know you. We have a mutual friend who raves about you, but that's not enough for me because I may not agree with his perspective. And that happens to me a lot.

For me, time's the foundation of everything. Then relationship, because I can't get the relationship without the time. If I make a mistake, when I met you, I didn't know if I wanted to do your podcast. I didn't know you. We have a mutual friend who raves about you, but that's not enough for me because I may not agree with his perspective. And that happens to me a lot.

People will call me and say, can you meet with so-and-so? And it's not that I don't respect their perspective. It's just I have a different one. For me... Time's my enemy, and it's been that way since I was a kid. It's got nothing to do with my age, chronologically. I remember being in high school, and I was running for student body president of a 4,000-kid high school.

People will call me and say, can you meet with so-and-so? And it's not that I don't respect their perspective. It's just I have a different one. For me... Time's my enemy, and it's been that way since I was a kid. It's got nothing to do with my age, chronologically. I remember being in high school, and I was running for student body president of a 4,000-kid high school.

And there weren't enough hours in the day for me to do what I felt I needed to do. I had to pander to so many constituencies that no one else... I had to develop constituencies from groups that everyone had ignored. No one ever went and spoke to the chess club at my high school. Because I was in high school in the 60s. And if you weren't an athlete, you were nothing. Your brain worked against you.

And there weren't enough hours in the day for me to do what I felt I needed to do. I had to pander to so many constituencies that no one else... I had to develop constituencies from groups that everyone had ignored. No one ever went and spoke to the chess club at my high school. Because I was in high school in the 60s. And if you weren't an athlete, you were nothing. Your brain worked against you.

If you were an intellect, they thought you were an idiot. It was the 60s in the San Fernando Valley. If you didn't have athletic prowess or some kind of unbelievable talent, skill set in something like you were a great auto mechanic and you could fix a 57 Chevy up. Something that demonstrated to a working class community that you had something special.