Michael Ovitz

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.

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.

So I went to all the clubs that were kind of persona non grata to build a constituency outside of what everyone called the normal people, who frankly turned out to be abnormal. They all peaked when they graduated high school. All of them. We had three teams, all city, number one. We had nine of 11 players on our football team make all-city first string.

So I went to all the clubs that were kind of persona non grata to build a constituency outside of what everyone called the normal people, who frankly turned out to be abnormal. They all peaked when they graduated high school. All of them. We had three teams, all city, number one. We had nine of 11 players on our football team make all-city first string.

One made it for five years in the pros and then got injured. The rest disappeared. Disappeared. They peaked. So for me, it was about careful with the time, careful on acceleration, careful on de-acceleration, meeting people, that would enrich my life intellectually, emotionally, and financially. And it's important to add all three.

One made it for five years in the pros and then got injured. The rest disappeared. Disappeared. They peaked. So for me, it was about careful with the time, careful on acceleration, careful on de-acceleration, meeting people, that would enrich my life intellectually, emotionally, and financially. And it's important to add all three.

I'm a capitalist and I get into these huge arguments with people that are more social leaning because it doesn't work. And we've seen that over and over again. And it's the capitalists that drive the foundation of giving They make jobs. Look, they don't do everything right. They do a lot of stuff wrong. Believe me, everybody does, me included.

I'm a capitalist and I get into these huge arguments with people that are more social leaning because it doesn't work. And we've seen that over and over again. And it's the capitalists that drive the foundation of giving They make jobs. Look, they don't do everything right. They do a lot of stuff wrong. Believe me, everybody does, me included.

But by and large, it's a better system than Marxism or just being a pure, you know, socialist. I think our system's better than the Chinese system. You know, you've got 50 million communists controlling a billion, 400 million people. That doesn't smell right to me. I had lunch yesterday with a guy who's very smart named Steve Radner.

But by and large, it's a better system than Marxism or just being a pure, you know, socialist. I think our system's better than the Chinese system. You know, you've got 50 million communists controlling a billion, 400 million people. That doesn't smell right to me. I had lunch yesterday with a guy who's very smart named Steve Radner.

And I was commenting about what an amazingly great mayor Mike Bloomberg was, even though he got in by accident, because he was a business guy. And he thought about everything in terms of getting it done and how do you do it? What's the path of least resistance? What's best for everybody?

And I was commenting about what an amazingly great mayor Mike Bloomberg was, even though he got in by accident, because he was a business guy. And he thought about everything in terms of getting it done and how do you do it? What's the path of least resistance? What's best for everybody?