Actionable Ideas from Michael Ovitz for Business Owners

If you have not listened to David's latest podcast on Michael Ovitz, you need to. It's amazing.

Here are the high-leverage moves you can make today based on Ovitz's principles covered in the podcast:

1. Build Your Frame of Reference Starting Now

Ovitz subscribed to 210 magazines. He looked at 200 images of art daily. He studied every filmmaker in history before signing directors.

Your move: Pick your industry's history and study it systematically. If you're in real estate, read every major deal structure from the past 50 years. In software? Study every major acquisition and why it succeeded or failed. Commit 90 minutes daily to building your knowledge base.

Set up feeds for 20-30 industry publications. Skim everything. Deep-dive on what matters. In six months, you'll spot patterns your competitors miss.

2. Show Up Before Everyone Else

Ovitz arrived at 6 AM when everyone else showed up at 9. Those extra hours gave him access to 70 years of Hollywood history in file cabinets.

Your move: Add two hours to your day, one before work, one after. Use it for deep work your competitors aren't doing. Study the industry. Read books. Build systems.

This isn't about grinding. It's about information asymmetry. When you know what they don't, you win.

3. Stop Asking, Start Creating Context

Rockefeller never asked Ovitz for money. He had a three-hour dinner about art, politics, and travel. Ovitz donated more than he planned.

Your move: Stop pitching. Start building relationships where the decision becomes inevitable. Before your next big ask, whether it's a partnership, investment, or major sale, have three conversations that aren't about the deal. Make them want to work with you before you ever bring it up.

4. Do a Postmortem on Every Failure

Ovitz lost the ninth-grade election. He spent two years analyzing why, rebuilding his social network, and practicing public speaking. He won the next two elections by wide margins.

Your move: Take your last failure, lost deal, failed product launch, bad hire, and do a complete postmortem. Write down what went wrong, what you missed, and what you'd do differently. Then build the skills or relationships you lacked.

Patrick Collison marked every mistake in Ovitz's book and made him explain each one. Find someone who'll do that for you.

5. Spot Talent by Watching Who Fills the Room

Ovitz spotted Nobu and Wolfgang before they were famous. Not because of their cooking—because of their presence. They filled rooms. People wanted to be near them.

Your move: When hiring or partnering, watch how people make others feel. Do they remember names? Do conversations get better when they show up? Technical skill matters, but presence creates empires.

Next time you're evaluating someone, ask: Would I want to sit next to this person at dinner? Would others?

6. Create Volume Where Others Create Scarcity

Coke was doing six commercials a year. Ovitz did 35 for the same budget. He tailored each one demographically and made Coke relevant 365 days a year.

Your move: Look at where your industry has artificial constraints. Where does everyone do six when you could do 35? Where can you 10x output without 10x cost?

If you're in content, don't make one polished piece a month. Make 30 raw pieces and let the market tell you what works. If you're in sales, don't make six pitches. Make 60 and learn faster. (Sounds familiar to you, Hozmori fans: "Volume negates luck" - give me an AMEN!)

7. Build a Monopoly or Don't Bother

Ovitz had 46 of the top 50 filmmakers and 75% market share of Hollywood talent. He wasn't interested in being competitive. He wanted to own the market.

Your move: Stop trying to be "one of the top players." Dominate a niche so completely that buyers have no choice but to work with you. Own the top 10 SEO spots in your category. Sign every A-player in your market. Make it so lopsided that price doesn't matter.

Ask yourself: Do I have monopoly power in any segment? If not, how do I get it in the next 12 months?

8. Invest in Relationships like Your Life depends on it. (Because it does!)

Ovitz talked to Michael Crichton every day for 30 years. He did rounds at CAA at 10:30 AM and 4:30 PM daily, checking in on his people. If someone looked off, he invited them to talk. 90% of problems were personal, not professional.

Your move: Schedule daily check-ins with your key people, partners, top employees, and critical clients. Don't wait for quarterly reviews. Two minutes of "how are you doing" catches problems before they explode.

Block 20 minutes daily to walk your office or call your remote team. Look for weird faces, weird voices, anything off. Ask them to talk. Fix personal problems before they become business problems.

9. When Everyone Says It Won't Work, That's Your Signal

Everyone told Ovitz: You can't start an agency at 26. You'll never sign the big stars. Directors won't do commercials. Madison Avenue will crush you.

He did it all anyway.

Your move: Write down the ideas you've killed because "everyone says it won't work." Pick one. Give yourself 90 days to test it.

The fact that everyone thinks it's stupid might mean you're early. Or it might mean it's stupid. But you'll never know if you don't try.

10. Failure Is Data, Not Death

Ovitz told the London businessman whose bank went bankrupt: "So what? In America, failure is a badge of honor. Get back up."

Your move: Reframe your last failure as expensive education. What did it cost you? What did you learn? Now use that knowledge to try again.

If you're avoiding risk because you might fail, you've already failed. The only unrecoverable mistake is quitting.

11. Create Binding Momentum Fast

The napkin contract with ABC. The check Ovitz sent back to Coke. When he got a yes, he locked it in immediately, no waiting, no second-guessing.

Your move: When someone says yes to your deal, partnership, or project, get commitment that day. Send a contract. Take a deposit. Pin the napkin to someone's shirt and run.

Momentum dies in the gap between yes and action. Close the gap.

12. Make People Choose: Friend or Foe

Ovitz drew a line in the sand. You're on one side or the other. He didn't waste time on relationships in the middle.

Your move: Audit your relationships. Who's actually helping you build? Who's taking up time without adding value? Cut the middle. Go all-in on the people who show up.

This sounds harsh. It's not. It's honesty. Weak relationships drain you. Strong ones compound.

Ovitz didn't succeed because he was the smartest. He succeeded because he showed up earlier, studied longer, and moved faster than everyone else. He built a frame of reference. He spotted talent. He created monopolies.

You can do the same. The question isn't whether you have the ability. The question is whether you'll do the work when everyone else is still sleeping.

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