#382 迈克尔·奥维茨是谁？：好莱坞最有权势之人的崛起、衰落与再崛起

在WMA，往上爬靠的是裙带关系。

The way you get ahead at WMA was nepotism.

每个人都是谁的侄子或亲戚。

Everybody was somebody's nephew.

那是个老旧、松散又腐败的地方。

It was an old, soft, corrupt place.

我得想别的办法脱颖而出。

I needed another way to stand out.

我去找人事主管，跟他说我有个提议。

I told the head of personnel, I have a proposition for you.

我觉得我能在一百二十天内学会当经纪人所需的一切。

I think I can learn all I need to know to become an agent in one hundred and twenty days.

如果学不会，我把公司给我的所有报酬都退回来。

If I can't, I'll give you back everything you paid me.

我实际上在替他接业务，他心里清楚得很。

I was agenting him, and he knew it.

他一听就大笑起来。

He broke out laughing.

这真是我听过最疯狂的事了，但我决定雇你。

This is the craziest thing I ever heard, but I'm gonna hire you.

你周一就开始上班。

You start Monday.

我的工资是每周五十五美元。

My salary was $55 a week.

我说我想明天就开始。

I said I'd like to start tomorrow.

他做事一向都是这样。

Again, everything he does is like this.

我早上七点就到了，提前两小时，好熟悉一下办公楼。

I showed up at 7AM, two hours early, to learn my way around the building.

当时有二十个邮件室的实习生，也就是说，我有十九个竞争对手。

There were 20 other mailroom trainees, which meant I had 19 rivals for advancement.

没过多久他就崭露头角，公司稍微给他提了点薪，涨到每周75美元。

Now he sticks out almost right away, so they bump him a little bit, his salary a little bit, but he's making $75 a week.

我觉得这反而成了他的动力，让他更有干劲。

And again, I think this is just fuel and just adds to his drive.

因为他已经结婚了。

Cause he's already married.

他大学还没毕业时就娶了妻子朱迪。

He married his wife Judy when I think he was still in college.

他觉得很尴尬。

And he's embarrassed.

因为他心里想，我都定好每周75美元了。

Cause he's just like, I have set I'm making $75 a week.

周围都是好莱坞的人。

I'm surrounded by you're in Hollywood.

这里有财富，有豪宅，还有名声。

There's wealth and there's mansions and there's fame.

我都不好意思带我妻子出去吃饭。

And I'm embarrassed I have to take my wife out.

我只能带她去那些便宜的墨西哥餐厅，这反而更刺激了我。

The only place I could take my wife out is these cheap Mexican restaurants and just adds fuel to the fire.

但朱迪一直非常支持他，尤其是在他刚起步的时候，这一点真的很重要。

But had a very Judy was very supportive, especially in his early days, I think this is really important.

我反复说过，从这些书里很明显能看出，创业者要么需要一个支持自己的伴侣，要么干脆别结婚。

I said over and over again that it's obvious from reading these books that entrepreneurs either need a supportive spouse or no spouse at all.

我觉得就只有这两种情况。

I think those are literally the only two options.

朱迪曾对我说过一句话，后来我招募CAA初级员工时也用过这句话。

It says, Judy gave me the line I'd later used when I recruited people to an entry level job at CAA.

你是在为自己的人生投资。

You're investing in your life.

我讨厌邮件室的工作，但我爱上了它所服务的整个世界。

I despise the mail room, but I fell in love with the world it served.

在威廉·莫里斯工作，对我来说只是个过渡。

Working for William Morris was a means to an end.

即便如此，你也知道，很多创业者、创始人，打从出生起就带着这种气质。

Even then, you know, I think, you know, entrepreneurs, a large percentage of them, founders, just like, you you were like this from birth.

对吧？

Right?

所以这个19岁的小伙子，当时在邮件室挣不到钱，却早就明白，自己迟早要创办一家公司。

And so, this this this kid, this 19 year old kid, making no money working in a mail room, just realized, you know, he he already knew that he was gonna start his company one day.

他心里清楚，总有一天要打造属于自己的企业。

He's like, I aspired to build my own company someday.

我以前跟你说过，我最欣赏的一场演讲，是YouTube上的一场。

And so I told you before in the past, one of my favorite talks is this talk on YouTube.

讲者是比尔·加雷思。

It's by Bill Gareth.

题目叫《追逐梦想：如何在热爱的事业中生存并成长。'

It's called Running Down a Dream, How to Survive and Thrive in a Career You Love.

里面有一句特别打动我的话，整段演讲里有很多精彩的句子，他在讲这些人是怎么取得成就的，他们具体是怎么做的。

And one of the quotes, there's a bunch of great quotes in there, and he's talking about, you know, how these these, you know, people achieve great things, like how they went about doing it.

其中有一句话，我时不时就会想起来。

And he has a line in there that I think of all the time.

他说：要不断打磨自己的技艺。

He says, hone your craft constantly.

你必须极度专注，把与你专业相关的所有东西都彻底搞明白。

It's extremely important to be obsessive about understanding everything you possibly can about your craft.

这应该被视为一种责任。

Consider it an obligation.

要对自己严格要求。

Hold yourself accountable.

要持续不断地学习。

Keep learning over time.

要研究行业历史，了解那些开创者。

Study the history and know the pioneers.

他的核心观点就是，你不需要是个天才。

And his whole point is like, you don't have to be a genius.

对吧？

Right?

你只要比别人收集更多的信息就够了。

You can just go out and collect more information than anybody else does.

更何况现在有互联网，你根本没理由不把自己变成任何感兴趣领域的世界级专家。

And considering that you have the Internet, you have no excuse not to make yourself a world expert in whatever field that you happen to be interested in.

Ovitz小时候就这么做了。

And Ovitz does this when he's a kid.

你听听他是怎么做的。

Listen to what he does.

记住，那时候还没有电脑。

So remember, this is there's no computers.

那是七十年代的事了。

This is we're in the seventies.

所以当时有个档案室。

So it says we had a file room.

所有关于这个地方和好莱坞历史的信息，都存放在纸质文件夹里。

Everything that you need to know about the history of this place and the history of Hollywood is is in in a paper folder.

他说，那个档案室有半个篮球场那么长。

So he said, we had a file room the length of a basketball court.

里面摆满了钢制文件柜，他管这叫那个年代的硬盘。

It was lined with steel cabinets, which were he calls it the hard drives of that era.

每个柜子里都塞满了价值七十美元的马尼拉文件夹。

They were all packed with 70 worth of Manila folders.

我觉得这些文件就是娱乐业的百科全书。

I view those files as an encyclopedia of entertainment.

我帮过管理档案室的玛丽。

I helped the woman who ran the file room, Mary.

他后来开始慢慢老去，几乎是在记录她的衰老过程。

So he starts he's aging her, essentially.

我给她带过一些小礼物，比如一盒糖果、一条围巾。

I brought her little gifts, a box of candy, a scarf.

有一天，我对她说：‘其实我很想看看那些文件。’

One day I said, Hey, you know, I'd really love to read some of those files.

她让我别客气，随便看。

She told me to make myself at home.

不到一周，她就允许我下班后继续留在那里。

Within a week, she was letting me stay on after she left.

后来，她直接给了我一把钥匙。

Then she gave me a key.

其他实习生还在等人安排任务、看书学习的时候，我每天早上七点、晚上下班后，都会去玛丽的档案室。

While other trainees waited to be told what to do and read and learn, I entered Mary's domain each morning at seven and every evening after work.

好几个星期，我从A到Z，一本一本地翻阅客户档案、电视台和制片公司的合约文件。

For weeks, I made my way from A to Z through the client files and the network and studio deals.

我一边看，一边记下问题，去问萨姆·萨克斯——电视法律事务部的主管。他对我的热情很感兴趣，还借给我一段他当年在南加大讲合同法和娱乐法的录音。

I jotted down questions for Sam Sachs, the head of television's legal affairs, who was charmed by my interest, and lent me a tape of a talk he gave at USC on contract law and entertainment.

我回家后看了，第二天又带着更多问题回来。

I watched it at home, then I came back the next day with more questions.

他又给了我九盘录像带，这也很关键，因为法律部紧挨着一楼高管办公室。

He gave me nine more tapes than there's this is also really important because the legal office is adjacent to the 1st Floor Executives.

萨姆·怀斯博德，全球电视部门主管，也是洛杉矶最高级别的莫里斯高管，下班去吃晚饭时顺手给了他一盘，回来时又给了另一盘。

And Sam Wiseboard, who was the head of television worldwide and the top Morris executive in LA, passed it on his way to dinner and again when he returned.

所以书里提到的这些人，很多都是循规蹈矩的，欧维茨就会默默观察你。

So there's a lot of these people in the book that are like creatures of habit, and Ovitz will just watch you and he'll observe you.

然后他就会发现，哦，这人每天干的事都一模一样。

And then he realizes, okay, this guy does the same thing every day.

他每天六点半准时离开办公室。

He's gonna leave the office at 06:30.

别人都七点走。

Everybody else leaves at seven.

他过几个小时又会回来，再干上几个小时——我记得书上说，大概三小时左右。

He's gonna come back a few hours later and work another I think he works like, what did it say, three hours.

所以书上说，办公室一直空着，直到萨姆回来吃晚饭，又待了三个小时把事情做完。

So it says the office was empty until Sam returned for dinner for another three hours to finish up.

你觉得年轻时的奥维茨会怎么做？

So what do you think a young Ovitz does?

我特意选了个他必经的工位，把文件摊得满桌都是，就是想让他注意到我。

I planted myself at a cubicle where he could not help but notice me spreading out my files so he would see them.

一周后，晚上九点左右，其他人都走光了，他过来问我：‘你能帮我个忙吗？’

A week later, around 9PM, no one else is there, he says, can you do me a favor?

那时候，整栋楼就我们两个人。

We were the only two in the building.

事实上，奥维茨后来跟大卫·格芬闹过一场矛盾，不过书里说他们之后和好了。

In fact, Ovitz is gonna wind up having this, like, fight with David Geffen, and then they reconcile later in the book.

如果你读过大卫·格芬的传记，会发现他也干过同样的事。

If you read David Geffen's biography, he does this exact same thing.

没错。

Exactly.

从邮件室做起，想办法跟高层主管一对一相处，然后为他做任何需要的事。

Starts in the mail room, figures a way to get a bunch of one on one time with the top executive, and then does whatever he needs for that person.

从我在威廉·莫里斯公司入职三个月后，我就成了萨姆·魏斯伯格的人。

So starting three months after my start date at William Morris, I became Sam Weisberg's guy.

我无偿地在他下班后帮他做事，没人要求我，也没人付我报酬。

I worked as his after hours assistant without being asked or paid.

每次经过他办公室，我都会探头进去看看他有什么需要。

I never went by his office without ducking my head in to see what he might need.

所以他常说，服务行业成败全靠时间管理。

So he says, service organizations live or die by time management.

我把萨姆桌上的所有备忘录按优先级排好顺序。

I lined up all the memos on Sam's desk by priority.

他就在这样安排自己的工作流程。

So he's organizing his workflow.

然后他会做些特别琐碎的小事。

I and then he would do very humble things.

我的意思是，我这儿没任何自我膨胀的东西。

It's like, I'm not I don't have an ego attached here.

我会尽一切可能为你服务。

I'm gonna serve you in any way possible.

我会一直把他的冰箱填满。

I would keep his refrigerator stocked.

我会打电话给股票经纪人，打听萨姆该买或卖哪些股票。

I would call stockbrokers and ask for tips on stocks that Sam should buy or sell.

总之，我让自己变得无可替代。

In short, I made myself indispensable.

这本书里还有很多话，我觉得根本不用多解释。

And then the book is full of lines I don't think need any further explanation.

他说，我一点都不想做个平庸的人。

He says, I didn't want to be standard in any way.

于是他跟威廉莫里斯公司里所有年轻经纪人建立了关系，那些人四处一看，心想：这些老家伙又老又懒，而我们年轻、有干劲、充满渴望。

So he develops a bunch of relationships with all the young agents at William Morris, and they're looking around and they're like, these guys are old and soft and lazy, and we are young and energetic and hungry.

于是他们开始想，要是像罗恩和我这样的人能有更多话语权会怎样？

And they begin to ask themselves, what if guys like Ron and me had more of a say?

接着，这自然引出了更深层的疑问。

And then that leads them to the, you know, further questioning.

他心想，如果我们自己来经营一家公司会怎么样？

He's like, well, what if we could run a company on our own?

结果他们发动了一场叛变，离开了威廉·莫里斯，创办了CAA。

And so they're gonna wind up leading a revolt, and they're gonna leave William Morris, and they're gonna start CAA.

别忘了，他们当时薪酬也偏低，这也是原因之一。

And keep in mind, and and part of it is because they're also underpaid.

这可是个大错误。

This is a big mistake.

最近好几档播客都提到过这件事。

I think it's come up on a bunch of the podcasts recently.

因为对人才的投入，怎么给都不算多。

It's like overpay for talent because it's it's it's almost impossible to overpay for talent.

1973年的时候，奥维茨为公司带来了两百万美元，而公司每周只给他四百美元。

And in this case, in 1973, Ovitz brings in $2,000,000 for the firm and they pay him $400 a week.

他们还说：‘你干得太棒了。’

And they're like, oh, you did a great job.

谢谢你带来了这两百万。

Thanks for that 2,000,000.

这是七千五百美元的奖金。

Here's a $7,500 bonus.

于是他们干得更卖力了。

So they're working way harder.

他们为那些老派的、不怎么拼的人赚了大把钱，自己却得不到应有的回报。

They're making a ton of money for the old, you know, soft people and they're not getting compensated.

你觉得接下来会发生什么？

So what do you think is gonna happen?

这说到底就是人性。

This is human nature.

你们都去吧，我不伺候了。

It's like, screw you guys.

我自己干就是了。

I'm gonna do this on my own.

他和罗恩一起吃晚饭，两人越聊越觉得：不如咱们自己创业吧？

So they're having him and Ron are having dinner, and they're really starting to have discussions like, why don't we go into business for ourselves?

赚的钱能更多。

We'll make more money.

自己说了算。

We'll have more control.

而奥维茨一直帮着的那个人，萨姆·魏斯伯格，是下一任总裁的热门人选。

And the guy that Ovitz was helping, Sam Weisberg, was next in line for the presidency.

于是奥维茨就想：要不我留下？说不定能当上公司二把手。

So Ovitz has like, well, I could stay at like, what if I I might wanna stay here because I'll be maybe I could be maybe the number two guy to the guy running the company.

但这一点，奥维茨在书里反复提到，只要你读过书、跟他聊过，就会明白——他根本不是当二把手的料。

And here's the thing that that Ovitz will repeat over and over again in the book, and it's obvious if you read the book and and you talk to him, he's just not meant to be a number two.

所以他们和他还有未来的联合创始人罗恩聊了起来，他说：‘留下对我来说收益更大，离开的风险也更高。’

And so they're having this conversation with him and his future co founder, Ron, And he's like, well, I had more to gain by staying than Ron and more to lose by leaving.

看到我犹豫，罗恩说：‘你根本不敢赌。’

And says, seeing me hesitate, Ron said, you have no gamble in you.

有时候你得站出来，放手一搏。

Sometimes you have to step up and roll the dice.

这话让我开始认真思考。

That got me thinking.

那时候我才27岁。

I was 27.

如果三年后失败了，我还能找份新工作，重新开始。

If we busted in three years, I could land a new job and start over.

尽管他们手头没多少钱，但还是凑在一起——我记得一共五个人——决定一起创办CAA。

So even though they don't have a bunch of money, they get together, I think there's five of them, and they're going to start CAA.

从一开始，奥维茨就列出了他认为非常重要的几点。

And, you know, they lay out, so Ovitz from the very beginning lays out a bunch of points that he thinks is very important.

第一，我们所有人股份要一样。

One, we should all have even equity.

第二，我们必须快速做大。

Two, we need to get big fast.

第三，我们要共享所有客户，一起为他们服务。

Three, we need to share all of our clients and serve them as a group.

他不想看到地盘之争，也不想要各自为政。

No, he didn't want any turf wars, he didn't want any silos.

别的经纪公司里，每个经纪人表面上是为公司工作，实际上都是在为自己干。

There would be, you know, at other agencies, all the agencies all all the agents kinda work for one agency, but they really, like, work for themselves.

他说，这种做法会引发一大堆内部矛盾。

And he's like, we need to that causes all kinds of internal conflict.

说起来，你有没有发现？

In fact, you know what?

我看到这里，突然冒出一个想法：别搞地盘之争，别搞信息孤岛。

I had a strange thought when I got to this part about, hey, no turf wars, no silos.

我们会作为一个团队来服务他们。

We're gonna serve them as a group.

我正打算做一期节目，因为我刚读完一本成吉思汗的传记。

I'm thinking about doing an episode because I read a biography on Genghis Khan.

我还看了不少关于他的纪录片和播客。

I've watched a bunch of documentaries and a bunch of podcasts on them.

所以我可能会做，但成吉思汗特别厉害的一点，是他擅长构建国家和管理体系。

And so I might do that, but one of the things that that Genghis Khan, was really brilliant creator of like states and management structures.

他反复做的一件事就是，特别重视减少内部冲突。

And one thing that he would do over and over again that you see is like he was really important to him to reduce internal conflict.

哪怕某个习俗在某个文化里存在了很久，比如绑架敌人的女人，他也会直接禁止，因为他的想法很简单：你抢了别人家的亲人，人家肯定要报复，报复之后，对方的家人又会再报复，这样没完没了，所以干脆直接禁掉，就是为了减少内耗。

And so even if something even if there was like a practice that was something going on in a culture for a long period of time, like they would kidnap your enemies' women, for example, He would outlaw that because his whole point was just like, well, you kidnap somebody else's, you know, family member, they're gonna they're gonna seek retribution, and then when they get retribution, their family members are gonna seek retribution, and there's gonna be retribution from retribution to retribution, and so we're going to outlaw this because we need to reduce internal conflict.

这可以说是成吉思汗的核心原则之一：减少内部冲突。

And so that was like one of Khan's major principles, like reduce internal conflict.

你从奥维茨一上台就能看到同样的做法。

You see the same thing right at the get go with Ovitz.

第四点，讲真话。

Number four, tell the truth.

我晚餐的时候跟他聊过这个。

So I this is something I talked to him at dinner about.

他特别看重那些敢说真话的朋友。

He really values friends that tell the truth, his friends that are able to tell truth.

当然，他很有名，大家都知道。

Obviously, he's, know, famous and well known.

如果你愿意，完全可以围绕自己堆一堆只会说好话的人，那样你就永远听不到任何负面声音。

A lot you'll have, you could if you want, you could build people around you, and you'll never hear anything bad.

很多人其实都犯了这个错误。

And I think a lot of people make the mistake of doing that.

我们反复看到的历史上的伟大创业者，比如山姆·沃尔顿、吉姆·凯西、史蒂夫·乔布斯，他们都希望听到真话。

The great founders that we've seen over and over again in history, Sam Walton, Jim Casey, you know, Steve Jobs, they want to be told the truth.

如果你敢反驳他们，他们反而更尊重你。

They want they respect you more if you push back at them.

而那些糟糕的创始人或高管，只会围着一群只会奉承的人转。

And I think the bad founders or the bad executives just surround themselves with sycophants.

这可能一时有效，但结局总是很惨。

Then, you know, that may work for a little bit, but it always ends terribly.

所以第四条，讲真话。

So number four, tell the truth.

第五条，主动创造机会——这其实是欧维茨最了不起的创新之处，他不会坐等机会上门。

And number five, create this is really, really the, like, one of the most innovative things that Ovitz does, is like, he's gonna create opportunities, not just wait around for it.

其他经纪人都是等别人来提要求。

So, other agents, they'd field offers.

但他会问：我们为什么只能被动接单？

And he's like, Why are we just fielding offers?

我们为什么不主动创造机会，再帮客户去推销呢？

Like, why aren't we the ones creating opportunities and then going on try to sell them on behalf of our clients?

他们正是靠这个理念脱颖而出的。

And they they really like differentiate themselves around that idea.

我们会想出一些点子，然后整合起来提供给你。

Like, we're gonna come up with ideas, and we're gonna put that together for you.

我们本质上是在为你服务。

Like, we're essentially going to serve you.

他其实主动招揽了很多客户。

And he actually recruits a lot of clients.

他会先为那些还没签约的潜在客户工作。

He starts working for people that he wants to be clients that have never signed with him.

这么做往往会给他带来绝佳的机会。

And what he'll do is it'll just bring him a great opportunity.

接着，对方就会主动来找他，提供这个机会。

And then that leads then they comes to them with an opportunity.

他们会说，这个机会太棒了。

They're like, This opportunity is great.

确实不错。

Great.

你希望我来代表你吗？

Do you want me to represent you?

这样推销起来容易多了。

That's a much easier sell.

所以我们看到CAA的起步非常朴素。

So we see that CAA has very humble beginnings.

他们当时欠着债。

They're in debt.

最后只好拿房子做抵押。

They wind up putting up homes as collateral.

CAA简直就是个典型的初创公司。

And it says CAA was a prototypical startup.

我们搬来折叠椅和折叠桌当办公桌，每周还有一天，我们各自的妻子来帮忙接电话。

We brought in folding chairs and card tables for desks, and our wives each came in one day a week to answer the phones.

我们只有一个助理，是个会计。

We had one assistant, a bookkeeper.

而且一开始，他们就得面对周围所有人怀疑他们，觉得他们肯定干不下去。

And right away, they have to deal with one, everybody around them doubting them, you're not going to succeed.

那些留在威廉·莫里斯的人说：嘿，跟你们说一声，我们办公室打了个赌，说你们六个月之内就得关门。

The people that stayed at William Moore said, Hey, just so you know, we have like a bet at the office that you guys are going be out of business within six months.

接着，威廉·莫里斯还威胁要起诉，想在CAA刚起步时就把它们彻底搞垮。

And then they, they, WMA threatens a lawsuit and tries to destroy CAA before they get going.

这就是奥维茨的回应。

And so this is Ovitz's response.

他们当时吓坏了，才二十多岁，突然收到好莱坞最有权势的律师之一寄来的信，意思就是：我们非得碾碎你们不可。

And they were terrified, you know, they're late twenties, and they have, they get this letter from one of the most powerful attorneys in Hollywood saying, you know, essentially, we're gonna just crush you.

而奥维茨的这个回应，特别有意思。

And Ovitz' response here is fascinating.

他说：我唯一的办法，虽然希望渺茫，就是反过来吓唬我以前的老板。

He goes, my one play, a long shot, was try to intimidate my old boss.

我在萨姆手下工作时就知道，司法部正在调查威廉·莫里斯涉嫌垄断。

From working for Sam, I knew that the Department of Justice was probing William Morris for monopolistic practices.

所以他给那位律师打了电话。

So he calls up the attorney.

明白吗？

Okay?

我说：我给莱昂·卡普兰打了电话。

He goes, I rang up Leon Kaplan.

他语气傲慢，这有什么奇怪的？

He sounded arrogant, and why not?

他认定CAA弱小、没钱，毫无还手之力。

He pegs CAA as weak, broke, and defenseless.

卡普兰先生，

Mr.

我说，

Kaplan, I said.

我们没见过面，但我清楚您代表的是谁。

We haven't met, but I know who you represent.

我觉得你这是想逼我们关门，这既不合适也不公平，要是这事闹到司法部，正好赶上他们反垄断调查，那可就精彩了。

I think you're trying to put us out of business and I think it's inappropriate and unfair, and it could be really interesting if this went to the Justice Department in the middle of their antitrust investigation.

我当时语气坚定，但很冷静。

My tone was firm but matter of fact.

我接着说，你可以把这封信撕了，咱们一笑泯恩仇，这事就当没发生过。

I continued, You can rip up this letter, and we can all be friends and forget about it.

或者你坚持下去，我就给我在司法部的一个朋友打电话，让他把这事塞进案堆里，看看最后怎么收场。

Or you can pursue it, and I will call a pal of mine who works at Justice and I'll ask him to throw this in the hopper, and we'll see how this sorts out.

于是律师和WMA退缩了，这其实挺明显的——奥维茨在司法部根本没人，他纯粹是在虚张声势。

And so the lawyer and WMA back off, and I think it's probably obvious, but like, Ovitz didn't have a friend in the Justice Department, he was bluffing.

但这才是重点，关键的高潮部分。

But this is the punchline, the important part.

那天之后，我们彻底进入了备战状态。

That day forged our siege mentality.

为了守住我们这点地盘，谁敢碰我们，我们就跟谁拼命。

To defend our tiny position, we unleashed hell on anyone who crossed us.

在我待在CAA的剩余时间里，我既是忠实的朋友和盟友，也是绝不妥协的对手。

For the rest of my time at CAA, I was a great friend and ally, but an implacable foe.

当你28岁，辞了工作，没有回头路，而行业巨头还想扼杀你刚起步的事业时，你只能迅速反击。

When you're 28 years old and you've quit your job and there's no going back, and then the industry leader tries to smother your baby in its cradle, you steal up pretty fast.

卡普兰的那封信教会我们玩真的，接下来的二十年，我们一直这么玩。

Kaplan's letter taught us to play hardball, and hardball we would play for the next twenty years.

当你没钱、负债累累、创业初期毫无收入时，你还能怎么办？

So when you're not making any money, you don't have a lot of money, you're in debt, what what option do you have in your startup?

只有一条路。

There's one option.

你必须尽快搞到钱，不然就只有死路一条。

You gotta get to the money fast or you're going to die.

所以他们就瞄准了电影，毕竟电影显然是这个行业里最体面的部分。

And so what they do is they go to kind of the so there's like a there's like a the films and movies is obviously, you know, the the most prestigious aspect of the business.

它也可能最赚钱。

It can be the most lucrative.

但他们是从电视圈起步的，毕竟电视行业没那么体面，不过钱来得快。

But they start in TV, which was, you know, way less prestigious because it pays really fast.

这其实特别有意思。

It's actually really, really interesting.

为了尽快付房租，我们专心拉拢电视编剧和演员。

Needing clients fast to pay our rent, we focus on TV writers and actors.

这两类人收入稳定可靠。

Two reliable sources of income.

在电视圈，演员每周四发工资，经纪人也跟着每周四进账。

In TV, the talent got paid every Thursday, so the agents did too.

接着他讲起自己28岁那会儿是什么样子。

Then he talks about what he was like at 28.

他现在还是这样。

He's still like this today.

醒着的每一刻都在工作。

Every waking hour was a working hour.

这是一家非常草根的初创公司。

This is a very scrappy startup.

他说，我们连差旅报销都没有。

Says, we didn't even have expense accounts.

所有开销都是自己垫付，然后在个人报税时抵扣。

We paid for everything ourselves and deducted it from our individual taxes.

这本书里有一部分，我觉得满是那种特别接地气、特别有创意的点子，教你怎么白手起家搞公司。

And this is the part of the book where I just feel it's full of just really interesting ideas on on, you know, really scrappy and resourceful ideas to build your company.

很明显的一点是，奥维茨在很多方面都超前于时代。

One thing that's very obvious is Ovitz was ahead of his time in a lot of things.

他对即将发生的事看得特别准，因为他接下来要对那位女演员说的话。

He's very ahead of time what's about to happen here because what he's about to tell this actress.

现在演员、运动员，全都是这么想的。

Actors, athletes, all think like this today.

他说，你是个出色的演员，应该接更多戏，演更重要的角色。

And he's saying, you know, you're a great actress, you should be doing more, you should have bigger roles.

他看到她一脸怀疑，就插话说：先放下你演员的身份，假装自己是个小公司。

And he goes, seeing her skeptical expression, I jumped in and said, Take off your actress hat for a moment and pretend that you're a small corporation.

我就是这个意思。

This is what I mean by that.

你看那些运动员，还有电影明星，那些跟普通上班族不一样的人，他们的个人简介里都会写‘创始人’。

All these athletes, and if you look at like a lot of athletes, movie stars, you know, people that are in different domains outside of like typical business people, you'll see in their bios, it'll be, they'll say like founder.

他们现在确实把自己当成一个小型企业，很多甚至相当于数十亿美元的公司，但那时候他们可没这么想。

They So think they definitely think about them themselves as like a small, in many cases, like they could be multi billion dollar corporations, but they think like this let now, they definitely weren't thinking back then.

他对这位女演员说：你该怎么提高自己的净利润，掌控自己的发展方向？

He, and he says, he says to this actress, what, what can you do to increase your bottom line and control the direction of your growth?

你得主动掌控自己的项目，参与到创作过程中去。

You need to take control of your projects and get involved in developing them.

他跟她说的第二部分，对处理人际关系特别有启发。

This second part that he tells her is just great advice for dealing with people.

我觉得没人愿意被简单地当成一个标签来看待。

I believe that nobody wants to be treated just as they are.

每个人都希望得到鼓励，成为比现在更好的自己，发挥出最大的潜能。

Everybody wants to feel encouraged to become even more than they are, to become the best versions of themselves.

所以，这页上让我特别有感触的第三点是：信念总是在能力之前。

So then the third thing that jumped out on me on this page is, again, this belief comes before ability.

我以前在刚接触创业类书籍时，经常在各种书里看到这种说法。

I used to have this thing where that pop up in all the the the books that I read in the early days of Founders.

那些批评者根本什么都不懂。

It's like critics don't know shit.

当时在奥维茨身边，人人都说：‘这事儿干不成。’

And it's just everybody around Ovitz is like, You can't do that.

这根本不可能。

That's impossible.

这事永远都不会发生。

That'll never happen.

你不可能请到那个人。

You're not gonna get that person.

你做不到的。

You can't do that.

所以他们说，咱们可能就只是做电视的小角色。

And so they're talking about like, Yeah, we might be like these little guys doing TV.

咱们可能一分钱都没有。

We might have no money.

没人认识我们。

No one knows us.

可他说，我打算代理电影明星。

And he says, I plan on representing movie stars.

而我提到的那个人回应说，你根本请不动他们。

And the response to this person I was talking about is like, You'll never get them.

那些大腕都被大公司锁定了。

They're locked up by the big boys.

奥维茨的回应简直完美。

And Ovitz's response here is perfect.

他说，我要把他们都签下来。

He goes, I'm going to represent them all.

我要把所有人全都拿下。

I'm going to get them all.

我觉得这特别重要。

And I think it's very important.

别让别人替你决定你能做什么、能做成什么样。

Don't ever let somebody else tell you what you're going to do or you're capable of.

他们凭什么知道？

How the hell would they even know?

换条路走。

Another way.

你得另找一条路进去。

You got to find another route in.

所以，没错，这真的很难。

And so, okay, it's really hard.

你知道，电影圈竞争特别激烈。

You know, obviously film is highly competitive.

这人说，所有顶尖的演员和导演都被大公司签走了。

This guy just said all the great actors and directors are locked up by the big boys.

那我该怎么进入电影行业呢？

Okay, so how can I break into movies?

他说，我们是通过把小说、剧本和故事大纲拿给潜在客户来打开局面的。

He says, we break into film by taking books and scripts and treatments to prospective clients.

于是他开始大量阅读，后来在《纽约杂志》上听说了这位传奇文学经纪人莫特·詹克洛。

So he finds he winds up reading, and I think New York Magazine, hears about this this legendary literary agent named Mort Jenklo.

他心想，行吧。

And he goes, okay.

我这就给他打电话。

I'm gonna call him up.

这事儿又典型的欧维茨风格。

And again, this is just so Ovitz.

我要给他打电话。

I'm gonna I'm gonna call him.

我花了十天才终于联系上他，问他能不能见一面。

It took ten days for me to get him on the phone to ask if I could see him.

我飞去纽约，那笔开销让我心都揪起来了。

I flew to New York at a cost that made my stomach twitch.

记住，那时候他们一分钱都没有。

Remember, they have no money at this time.

他建议我们把这本书当作一个策略来推广。

So he says, laid out our book for a strategy.

我请他每周四上午十点给我回电话，万一有适合我们的东西。

I'd asked to call him every Thursday at 10AM in case he had something for us.

我每周的电话准得让他都能对表。

Mort could set his watch by my calls.

我坚持了一整年，每周都打，风雨无阻，他才终于给了我们一本小说。

I kept at it for a year every week, no matter what, before he gave us a novel.

所以他第一件事就是给了他这部小说《Chiefs》。

So the first thing he gives him, gives him this novel Chiefs.

这部小说后来真的出版了，还被CBS拍成了非常成功的迷你剧。

They actually sell that and turn it into a very successful miniseries on CBS.

莫特高兴得不得了。

Mort was ecstatic.

那接下来发生了什么？

So what happens?

你刚让我多赚了一笔钱。

You just you just made me more money.

你给我带来了一个机会。

You brought me an opportunity.

大家都特别喜欢这个。

People love that.

从那以后，他开始把奥维茨和CAA那帮人的一堆手稿寄过来，都是他旗下一些商业作家的作品，更容易改编成迷你剧或电影之类的。

So now he starts sending Ovitz and all the people, CAA, a bunch of manuscripts for some of his more commercial writers that should be easier to turn into miniseries, movies, things like that.

然后你就看到了他们用的那种游击式营销手段。

And then you see this guerrilla marketing tactic that that they had.

他们把这些剧本和手稿拿过来，嗯，我直接念给你听吧。

They take these these scripts and these manuscripts, and they well, I'll just read this to you.

很快，就有八十位经纪人不断给我们送来小说和手稿，供我们的制片人和编剧挑选改编。

Soon, we had 80 agents sending us novels and manuscript to be optioned by our producers and then our screenwriters for adaptation.

我们把剧本大量复印后，贴上醒目的红色封面，印上白色的CAA标志，然后把几百份散放在美容院、餐厅和诊所里。

After copying the scripts in bulk, we slapped on bright red covers with white CAA logo and planted hundreds of them in beauty parlors, restaurants, and doctors' offices.

这带来了免费的宣传效果。

They generated free publicity.

它帮我们建立了品牌，也让我们在和那些更大但更笨重的公司竞争时占了上风。

They helped establish our brand and our race against larger but less agile firms.

现在他说说当时承受的巨大压力。

Now, talks about the insane amount of pressure he's under.

头三年，他们根本没赚到什么钱。

They don't make any money, I think, for the first three years.

到了第三年，每个合伙人就能提取八万美元的利润了。

And then on the third year, each partner is able to take $80,000 out in profits.

别忘了，那是七十年代，简直让人震惊。

Remember, we're in the seventies, so was like, holy shit.

他说，我满脑子想的都是钱。

So he says, all I could think about was money.

如果你从小就没钱，这种感觉会伴随你一辈子。

Obviously, if you grew up with no money, you'd feel that way forever.

所以他下定决心要赚够钱，再也不回谷地了。

And so he says, was hell bent on making enough money so I'd never have to go back to the valley.

开始慢慢赚到一些钱了。

Starts making a little bit of money.

这种感觉，我要特别强调，这一点非常重要。

This feeling, and this is, I double underline, this is so important.

他说，我和朱迪从奥克斯搬到了布伦特伍德，用七万五千美元的房子换了一套六十五万美元的。每天早上醒来，我都忍不住想：天啊，我住在布伦特伍德了。

It says, Judy and I moved from Oaks to Brentwood, trading in our $75,000 house for one that costs $650,000 I'd wake up and think, My God, I live in Brentwood.

所以他现在开始积累一些势头了。

So he's starting to build up a little momentum here.

人们都注意到了他们有多机灵、多拼劲。

People are noticing how resourceful they are, how hungry they are.

想想这其中的反差。

Think about the contrast.

这一点会非常明显。

It's gonna be obvious.

成功是后来才来的，对吧？

The success is gonna come later, right?

但成绩自然会跟上来。

But the score will take care of itself.

如果你懂这个行业，就会注意到，像WME那些老派人物现在怎么样了？

You're gonna notice, if you know the industry, like how are the old soggy guys at WME doing, right?

威廉·莫里斯，或者叫WMA，抱歉。

William Morris or WMA, sorry.

那些每天在CAA拼命打拼、特别会找路子的年轻人，到底在做些什么？

And how what are these, like, young guys that are on it every day that are being super resourceful in at CAA doing?

他说，到了1976年底，机会终于敲门了，来找他的是一位52岁的马蒂·鲍姆。

And so he says, in late nineteen seventy six, opportunity had come knocking in the form of 52 year old Marty Baum.

他是个独立经纪人，有自己的公司。

He was an agent with his own shop.

明白吗？

Okay?

他手头有一批不错的客户，但一个人单打独斗。

He had a really good list of clients, but he worked by himself.

马蒂觉得孤单，想加入我们。

So it says Marty felt lonely and wanted to join us.

我们决定让他成为百分之百的合伙人，从没后悔过。

We decided to make him a full one six partner and never regretted it.

他帮我们顺利打开了电影圈的大门。

He gave us a big foot in the door in films.

他的客户让CAA有了竞争力，而且他会带领他们拿到第一笔大单。

His clients made CAA a contender, and he's gonna lead them to their big their first big payday.

于是，马蒂把奥维茨介绍给了《武士》这部剧的编剧詹姆斯·克莱比尔。

So Marty sense sets Ovitz up with James Clabill, who's the the writer of the series Shogun.

《武士》最近刚被翻拍过。

Shogun has just been remade recently.

我看过。

I watched it.

我觉得挺不错的。

I I enjoyed it.

但真正懂行的是奥维茨。

But Ovitz is the one that gets it.

这事儿得是三四十年前了吧。

This is, you know, three decades ago four decades ago, maybe.

说不定快四十五年前了。

Maybe four and a half decades ago.

他把这部剧拍出来了，结果成了历史上观看人数最多的迷你剧之一。

And he gets it made and and it becomes one of the most watched miniseries of all time.

所以我跳过中间部分，直接说重点。

So I'm gonna skip over, and we get to the punchline.

詹姆斯对奥维茨所做到的事兴奋得不得了。

And James is ecstatic at what Ovitz was able to do.

于是原著作者詹姆斯·克劳维尔说：‘你能不能来见我一面？’

So the author James Clauvel says, hey, can you come meet me?

两人坐下来，詹姆斯递给奥维茨一个信封，他打开一看，里面是一张支票，上面的数字多得让人眼花缭乱，收款方是CAA。

He sits down, Ovitz sits down, James hands him an envelope, and he found he says he opens it, found a check with a dizzying number of zeros made out to CAA.

一百万美元的佣金，按今天的价值算大约是三百万美元。

$1,000,000 commission, which would be about 3,000,000 in today's money.

现在可能更多了，毕竟这本书都快十年了。

Even more today because the book is, you know, almost ten years old.

《武士》这部剧，这一点才是关键。

Shogun had this is the important part.

我觉得过去几周，你和我一直在反复聊这个事。

I think you and I have been talking about this over and over again the last few weeks.

有多少人就是靠着那些明摆着却被人忽略的机会，建起了帝国，很多还是十亿美元级别的帝国。

How many of these people were able to build empires, in many cases billion dollar empires, off of opportunity hiding in plain sight.

《武士》这部剧，可不只是CAA第一个看到它的。

Shogun it's not like CAA was the first company to see Shogun.

奥维茨自己也一再提到这一点。

And you'll and Obi says this over and over again.

他总能把别人弃之不顾的东西，变成惊人的成功案例。

He takes things that other people pass on and turns them into phenomenal successes.

《武士》在威廉·莫里斯公司搁置了整整三年。

Shogun had languished at William Morris for three years.

最后是CAA把它拍成了剧集。

CAA got it made.

别管这单交易差点崩了二十次。

Never mind that the deal almost fell apart 20 times.

每次交易都差点搞砸二十次。

Deals always almost fall apart 20 times.

那是我们第一次把客户的天马行空的梦想变成了现实。

That was the first time we took a client's far fetched dream and made it come true.

他充分利用眼前每一个机会，但心里依然有长远的规划。

So he's doing the best with every opportunity in front of him, but he still has his long term plan.

他总说，我想签下最棒的导演，我想签下最棒的演员。

He's like, I want to have the best directors, I want to have the best actors.

于是他列了一份清单，把所有他有朝一日想代理的顶尖导演都写了下来。

So he winds up making a list of all the best directors that he wants to represent one day.

他说，我当时只是在做梦，但没想到这个梦最终真的实现了。

And he says, I was dreaming, though my dream would eventually come to pass.

结果他签下的这些人里，就有马丁·斯科塞斯和斯坦利·库布里克。

And so he winds up some of these people are like Martin Sorsese and Stanley Kubrick.

他还有一个优势，你想想，我做过不少关于导演的播客，比如诺兰、塔伦蒂诺、斯皮尔伯格、乔治·卢卡斯。

And one advantage that he did, right think about, like, I've done a bunch of podcasts on directors like Christopher Nolan, Tarantino, Spielberg, George Lucas.

他们都有一个共同点，就是脑子里装着一部完整的电影史。

They're all the same in the sense that they have this encyclopedic knowledge of film history in their head.

奥维茨后来意识到，我得把这东西也装进脑子里，这样才能跟他们聊得来，理解他们，跟他们有共同语言。

And what Ovitz realized is like, Oh, I need to get that in my head, so then I have I can be able to relate to them and understand them and talk to them about this.

那他是怎么做的呢？

So what does he do?

彻底搞懂这个行业的发展历史。

Know the history of the industry in.

对吧？

Right?

我开始相信自己真的能跟这些导演们平起平坐地聊天了，因为创办CAA的时候，我悄悄启动了一个项目，花了十年时间，把所有拿过五大奥斯卡奖项的电影都看了一遍。

I was beginning to believe that I can converse with those guys because when we launched CAA, I had started a private project, one that took me ten years of watching every film that had won one of the big five Oscar big five category Oscars.

我明白了为什么《乱世佳人》能经得起时间考验，而《绿色的山谷》却没能。

I discovered why Gone With the Wind had passed the test of time, and how Green Was My Valley hadn't.

我搞清楚了创意和技艺之间的关系。

I learned the relationship between vision and craft.

电影有自己的语言，我得会说两种才行。

Film had its own language, and I needed to be bilingual.

我之所以一直强调这点，是因为他真愿意花时间、下功夫去做研究。

So you I keep pointing this out because it's like he's willing to put in the effort and do the research and do the time.

你想想，当时还有其他经纪人，跟你一样，是欧维茨的直接竞争对手，他们中有多少人会这么做？

How many other people let's say you're another agent on another you're a direct competitor of Ovitz at this time.

你觉得真有几个人会这样干？

How many of them do you actually think did that?

要是还有第二个，我都觉得奇怪。

I'd surprised if there's another one.

就算有，也肯定不到他竞争对手的1%吧？

And if they're It's certainly not, what, more than 1% of his competitors?

这么一来，你已经把99%的人都淘汰了。

So you're already knocking out 99% of the people.

如果真要按人性来算，可能连0.5%都不到。

It's probably 0.5% if you really think about human nature.

真有意思，仅仅多收集一些信息，就能让你占到优势。

It's just fascinating that you can still just get an advantage just by collecting more information.

还有件事，我特别喜欢这个想法，之前也提过：在被录用之前，先把工作做了。

Another thing, I love this idea, I've already talked about it, do the job before you're hired.

他想代理的一位导演，就在他的名单上，叫史蒂夫·戈登。

So one of the guys that he wanted to represent, that was on his list of directors, was a guy named Steve Gordon.

他提到过一种做法，叫‘以假设的方式挖人’。

So one way he would would do, he says, we would poach people by assumption.

他们会表现得好像自己已经是客户的经纪人了，帮对方实现梦想，结果对方就主动签约了。

We would behave as if we were the client's agent already and make their dreams happy, and then they would sign.

于是他弄到一个剧本，把史蒂夫·戈登挂上去，然后跟联艺影业谈，好像史蒂夫已经同意执导了一样。

And so he winds up getting a script, attaching Steve Gordon to the script, and selling it to United Artists as if Steve Gordon agreed to that.

结果联艺真的拍板，决定开拍，而且指定由史蒂夫来导演。

And then they ordered the movie with Steve attached to to direct.

后来史蒂夫特别开心，你想想，这交易太划算了。

And then Steve was very happy because the deal think about it.

你一上门，这事儿就定了。

You show up at his door, the deal's done.

嘿，

Like, hey.

我知道你一直想拍这部电影。

I know you wanted this movie.

猜怎么着？

Guess what?

我刚把它卖给了这家制片公司，你就是导演了。

I just sold sold it to this studio, and you're the director.

这其实挺让人意外的，我吃饭的时候也问过他，因为书里很明显，他被两个最亲近的朋友兼生意伙伴背叛，伤透了心。

So this was actually a surprising thing and and something that I actually asked him about at dinner too because it's obvious in this book, like, he's just heartbroken and devastated by two of his closest friends and and business partners betray him.

但我认识不少共同的朋友，他们也都了解奥维茨。

And yet, have a bunch of mutual people that I know that know Ovitz.

我知道他现在在忙什么，过去几年做了些什么，我就问他们：这到底是怎么做到的？因为我这个人天生多疑，我一个最亲近的朋友兼顾问跟我说，我最大的问题就是总跟人保持距离，这样反而会拖累我自己的前程。

I know what he's working on now, and I know what he's been doing the last few years, and I just ask them, like, how the hell because I'm like a very untrusting person, and like, one of my closest friends and advisor says, like, my biggest problem is that I keep everybody at arm's length away, and I could actually, like, damage where where I'm trying to go in life.

这真是个挺有意思的反馈。

It's like a very interesting piece of feedback.

不过我本人一直很好奇，你写的那本书我读了。

But until one thing I was just curious for myself, was just like, you know, read your book.

这些人伤透了你的心，奥维茨自己也不会说自己完全无辜吧。

These guys ripped your heart out, you know, and Ovitz is not gonna say that he was like blameless too, you know.

经历了这种事，你该怎么继续建立新的关系呢？

How do you continue to build relationships after that happened to you?

你曾经把这两个人当成这辈子最要好的朋友。

You consider these two people literally your two best friends in the world.

他确实说得很在理。

And he made a great point.

他说，我这一生被三个人背叛过。

He's like, you know, I've been betrayed by, like, three people in my life.

哪来的这么多人？

Out of what?

一千个？

A thousand?

你不能这么过日子。

It just it just didn't like, you can't live your life like that.

他跟我说的是，你真不能这么活，毕竟一千个人里只有三个。

What he was telling me is, like, you just can't live your life like that because, you know, it's three out of a thousand.

你可能会惊讶，他居然这么信任别人。

So I think it would be surprising to you how trusting a person he is.

你看这里，他所谓的签客户，从来都不写任何书面文件。

And you see this here where he would sign, quote unquote sign clients, and he never papers anything.

他从没让对方签过委托书。

And he goes, I never asked them to sign a letter of engagement.

我觉得书面协议其实没那么重要。

I thought written agreements were overrated.

他说，我觉得书面协议根本就是适得其反。

And he goes, And I think they're downright counterproductive.

这还有一个好处。

And there was another benefit of this.

因为不用续签文件，客户也就没有了提醒自己该换掉我们的纪念日。

With no papers to renew, our clients had no anniversary to jog them into thinking about leaving us.

这个见解真有意思。

Very interesting insight there.

但他反复提到这一点。

But he mentioned that over and over again.

根本不用签任何文件，就是靠口头承诺和握手来跟客户合作。

Just not needing to paper anything, and just, you know, working with people with just basically a verbal and a handshake agreement.

说到这儿，他的语气就上来了，你明显能感觉到他是个赢家，而且他知道自己就是赢家。

This is where he started to pick up strength and you see he's just a conqueror and he knows he's a conqueror.

他说，这正是他彻底碾压所有人的起点和愿景。

He says this is really the vision and the beginning of him just completely rolling over everyone.

他说，我突然看到了自己的未来。

And he says a vision of my future came over me.

总有一天，我会聚集起这些人，成立一家代理机构，覆盖整个影视产业链，把权力从制片厂交还给创作者。

I'm going to have all of these people someday, in an agency that will represent the whole food chain and flip the power from the studios to the artists.

信念永远走在能力前面。

Again, belief comes before ability.

他有这份信念，但当时还没能力实现它。

He had that belief, he did not have the ability to do that yet.

所以他正在摸索该怎么做到。

So he's figuring out how to do it.

即便那时，我也隐隐觉得，传奇导演西德尼·波拉克才是关键人物，要实现这个愿景，还得花上好几年。

Even then, I had the odd feeling that Sidney Polak, which is a legendary director, would be the master key, realizing this vision would take years.

于是他发现，这正是书中最出人意料的部分之一。

So he discovers that this is one of the wildest parts of the book.

西德尼长期的经纪人叫伊瓦尔·齐格勒。

So Sidney's longtime agent was this guy named Ivar Ziegler.

我们叫他齐格吧，因为我也不确定自己念对了他的名字。

We're going call him Zig, because I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing his name correctly.

Zig 代理了一大批一线编剧，还手握不少顶级导演，但他年纪大了，有点懒，也跟不上时代了。

So Zig represented a bunch of A list writers, and he had a bunch of top tier directors, but he's getting old and a little lazy and not with the times.

于是他想，我得把他们都挖过来，可该怎么把他们吸引过来呢？

And so he goes, I want them all, but how do I lure them away?

意想不到的转机，是通过我车上的电话来的——那时候这可是个稀罕物。

The unexpected answer came through my car telephone, which was a novelty at the time.

那种车载无线电电话，比鞋盒大一点，一共有十一个频道。

The radio based phone, slightly larger than the shoebox, had 11 channels.

你得一个劲儿按按钮，直到听到拨号音为止。

You would keep pushing buttons until you found a dial tone.

忙线就像公共电话线一样。

Busy channels were like party lines.

任何用户都能偷听到通话内容。

Any subscriber could listen in.

有一天早上我开车去上班，听见一个声音，简直太疯狂了：你用着车载电话，结果这频道跟公共电话线一样，你正跟人聊天，一不小心蹭到同一个频道，人家的对话你全听到了。

On my way to the office one morning, I heard a voice, that's so wild, that like you're using a car phone and it's like a party line, and I mean you were having a conversation, and then if you just happen to get on that same channel, you're just listening in.

这有点像CB无线电，对吧？卡车司机也是这么用的。

I guess it's like kinda like CB radio, right, where truck drivers in the same way.

所以这些频道就像公共热线，任何人都能听得到。

So they're they're like party lines, any subscriber could listen in.

有一天早上我开车去办公室，听见一个声音，听起来像是齐格的。

On my way to the office one morning, I heard a voice that sounded like Zig's.

我赶紧靠边停车做笔记，因为齐格正在跟助理讨论他那群大牌客户。

I pulled off the road to take notes because Zig was discussing his star studded client list with his assistant.

第二天早上我照常到公司，发现齐格又在开车时谈生意。

I clocked in at the same time the next morning, and there was Zig again doing business while commuting.

那时候我们都在积极争取客户，可他听起来却苍老又落寞。

He sounded old and forlorn at a time when we were swarming potential clients.

他的公司规模很小，人手很少，而欧维茨那边却在大张旗鼓地扩军。

And so he also has a tiny business in the sense that he doesn't have a lot of help where, you know, Ovitz is like building an army.

明白吗？

Okay?

所以齐格只有一名助理和一位初级合伙人。

And so Zig has just like one assistant and a junior partner.

于是他说，我决定试着把他买下来。

And so he says, I decided to try to buy him out.

为了让他更容易接受，我先软化他的态度，再次加大了争取西德尼·波拉克的力度。

To make him more receptive, to soften him up, I escalated my campaign again to sign Sidney Pollock.

我愿意为你拼命，我对西德尼说。

I'll kill for you, I told Sidney.

我唯一能拿得出手的，就是我的热情、干劲，还有我比齐格年轻三十岁这个事实。

All I had to sell was my passion and energy and the fact that I was thirty years younger than Zig.

当西德尼犹豫不决时，我们抢在齐格之前，不断把新剧本送到他手上。

As Sidney wavered, we got screenplay after screenplay into his hands before Zig did.

每天我花在西德尼身上的时间长达两个小时，抱歉，是西德尼，远超任何人花在他最重要客户身上的时间。

Each day, I spent up to two hours on Sid on Sidney rather, excuse me, Far more than anyone who spent on his biggest signed clients.

行动才真正体现优先级。

This is actions express priority.

他用行动告诉你什么才是最重要的。

He's telling you with his actions what's important.

我一定要拿下这个人。

I'm gonna get this guy.

1981年，当我们交往进入第二年时，他一开始，我记得第一页就自称是‘终结者’。

In 1981, with our courtship in a second year remember he started I think the very first page, he calls himself the Terminator.

所以在我脑子里，就浮现出那个场景——他们不停地开枪。

And so in my mind, I I had that scene where, like, they just keep shooting.

它一直往前冲。

It just keeps coming.

它不断逼近。

It keeps coming.

它持续推进。

It keeps coming.

我就觉得，奥维茨就是这样的人，尤其是在这种情况下，还有许多其他场合。

I I just feel that that that's how Ovitz was like, definitely in in this situation and and many others.

所以他就说，好吧，我每天花两个小时。

So he's like, okay, I'm gonna spend two hours a day.

这得花两年时间，但我就是要比你的经纪人更拼，让你明白我明显更胜一筹。

It's gonna take me two years, and I'm gonna I'm just gonna out hustle your agent and show you that I'm obviously better than that.

最终他签了我们，而且在重重打击了齐格之后，我们给他提供了75万美元收购他的公司，外加他客户作品的终身版税。

So he signs with us after signs with us at last, Having dealt Zig a body blow, we offered him $750,000 for his agency plus a lifetime royalty on his client's work.

即使他从不来办公室，也能一直保留自己业务的一部分。

He'd keep a piece of his business in perpetuity, even if he never came to the office.

齐格去世了。

Zig passed.

在我们谈判的过程中，我们发现史蒂夫·罗斯——他的另一位合伙人，也是 junior 合伙人——才是实际服务最重要客户的人。

During our discussions, we discovered that Steve Roth, his other partner, his junior partner, right?

而且史蒂夫早就想离开了。

Is the one who was actually servicing their best clients and that Steve was eager to leave.

我们立刻跟他谈妥了条件，让他加入CAA，这让我们如愿以偿地拿到了大部分想要的东西。

We promptly cut a deal for him to come to CAA that got us most of what we wanted.

我们每年只需要付史蒂夫二十五万美元。

All we had to pay Steve was $250,000 a year.

这比付齐格七十五万要好得多，也便宜多了，而且这就像终结者一样，我要一路碾压所有人。

Way better, cheaper than paying Zig $750,000 And then this just, again, Terminator like, I'm going to roll over everyone.

挡在我们前面的人，全都会被碾过去。齐格的核心业务没了之后，把剩下的部分卖给了ICM，就此退出了。

Anyone in our way was going to get rolled over with his core business gone, Zig sold what remained to ICM, and he was done.

事实上，齐格拒绝我们之后，我根本没再想过他。

The truth is that I didn't give a thought to Zig after he turned us down.

你从来听不到有人说他事后不开心，他们只是输了。

You never heard that someone was unhappy afterward, they just lost.

但彻底击败齐格，是我像谢尔曼将军一样直捣黄龙的开端。

But flattening Zig was the beginning of my Sherman esque march to the sea.

在这本书里，奥维茨还会提到他敬佩的人，或者那些他从中学到东西的人。

So in this book, Ovitz will also talk about people that he admired or people he would learn from.

其中一个人叫泰德·阿什利，他确实是少数比奥维茨更年轻时就自己创办经纪公司的几个人之一。

And one of the guys was Ted Ashley, and Ted Ashley was actually one of the few people that actually started his own agency younger, at a younger age than Ovitz did.

我觉得泰德创办自己的经纪公司时才23岁。

I think Ted was 23 when he started his agency.

泰德还提醒过他。

And Ted gives him a warning.

我后来在晚餐时问过奥维茨这件事，他到现在还相信这是真的，但他补充说：‘没那么顺利。’

And I actually asked Ovitz about this at dinner, and he still believes this is true, but he said, Not on the rise.

我马上解释一下这句话的意思。

So I'll explain what that means in one second.

每天走进办公室，我都会被一阵焦虑扑面而来。

There wasn't a day where I didn't walk in the door and get hit by a rush of anxiety.

今天我能想出什么点子来应付开销？

What idea can I come up with today to pay the overhead?

当我们发出内部备忘录时，那种肾上腺素飙升的感觉特别强烈。

There'd be the adrenaline rush when we sent out the internal memo.

罗伯特·雷德福现在成了CAA的客户。

Robert Redford is now a CAA client.

十五分钟后，问题就变成了接下来怎么办。

Fifteen minutes later it was what's next.

1979年，我33岁的时候，华纳兄弟的泰德·阿什利。

In 1979, when I was 33, Ted Ashley at Warner Bros.

他把我拉到一边说：我要给你一些建议，但以你的性格，你肯定不会听。

Took me aside and said I'm going give you some great advice, and knowing you, you're not going to take it.

但我说给你听：我本可以少干百分之十的活，对我的事业成就一点影响都没有，但我会开心很多。

But here it is: I could have worked 10% less and it wouldn't have made a difference in my professional success, but I would have been a lot happier.

泰德在这两点上都完全说对了。

Ted was absolutely right on both accounts.

这确实是好建议，可我没听。

It was great advice, and I didn't take it.

我现在明白了，我本可以少干百分之二十的活，也不会有任何损失。

I see now that I could have worked as much as 20% less, and it wouldn't have cost me.

如果过去三十年里我每年少干百分之十，那就是多出了整整三年的时光，可以好好享受生活。

If I worked even 10% less across thirty years, that's three extra, that's three extra whole years of life that I would have enjoyed.