Ovitz currently does consulting and advisory work for Palantir
Michael Ovitz · Michael Ovitz – Reinventing Talent and Building Momentum at Treville (EP.455) · Jul 7, 2025 · at 1:04:24
Michael Ovitz, co-founder of CAA and partner at Treville Capital, discusses his ongoing advisory roles and how he helps tech founders anticipate security and operational challenges.
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“I was doing work for Palantir, which I still do”
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More from Michael Ovitz
Ovitz: The lens for evaluating tech founders and creative artists is identical
“Nothing. I had founders start with an idea, and usually nothing else. Let's put off to the side a technical founder who may have come up with a fabulous algorithm that no one else has, but he still has to have an idea for it. What's he gonna do with it? What's…”
CAA secured private school admissions for clients' children through agency donations
“One of the things we pioneered at CA was We literally service the clients on everything. They wanted to buy a house. We helped them. They wanted to buy a car. We knew all the dealers. They wanted to get their kids into private schools. We had contributed to th…”
Ovitz confirms James B. Stewart's DisneyWar accurately portrays his Disney tenure
“I mean, they wrote a book about it called Disney Wars, and it's quite accurate. Jim Stewart is not a guy that Writes things that aren't true in anything he does, and it just didn't turn out the way I thought it was going to turn out.”
Ovitz: European business culture causes failed founders to hide in embarrassment
“And in Europe, if they fail, they're embarrassed, and they go hide.”
CAA disrupted Hollywood by proactively packaging talent rather than waiting
“We weren't going to wait for offers. We were going to aggressively try to put things together and package which hadn't been done, and we'd never let anything go out that wasn't surrounded with like-minded creative people.”
Ovitz: Service professionals must keep clients at arm's length, not be friends
“I used to preach to all of our people to not think their clients were their friends and to treat them appropriately at arm's length and don't Confide in your personal life. They don't want to hear it. They may tell you they do, but they're not interested. Plus…”