Herb Allen

Strategic Concepts & Mechanics

Signature MoveCalm as a Weapon at the Negotiation Table

Signature MoveCollect Relationships Like Intelligence Assets

Signature MoveGifts That Outlast the Commission Check

Identity & CultureConsensus Hiring, Two Promotes Per Import

Cornerstone MovePackage the Elements, Then Force the Bid

Identity & CultureMailroom Encyclopedia Before Anyone Else Wakes

Competitive AdvantageBe the Outlier in a Multiplayer Contest

Operating PrincipleTreat Every Client as a Corporation

Signature MoveThousand Letters a Year, Zero Left Unanswered

Cornerstone MoveNo Fee Letter, Just Trust—Then Name Your Price

Decision FrameworkNever Promise a Name You Can't Deliver

Cornerstone MoveOrchestrate the Room Before Anyone Sits Down

Signature MoveCars in the Garage Before Dawn

Risk DoctrineNo Written Contracts, No Anniversary to Leave

Relationship LeverageThe Ten-Minute Watch on the Desk

Strategic PatternMirror Their Culture, Not Yours

Cornerstone MoveEquity Stakes for Distribution Leverage

Competitive AdvantageCableLabs Royalty-Free Standards Play

Cornerstone MoveStock Architecture to Lock Control

Competitive AdvantageBlackout as Franchise Leverage

Capital StrategyTax-Sheltered Growing Annuity

Capital StrategyInsurance Company Capital Over Banks

Signature MoveNever Bet the Whole Farm

Strategic PatternWarrants as Industry Coordination Currency

Decision FrameworkEmpathy as Negotiation Architecture

Signature MoveThrow the Keys on the Table

Signature MoveOwn a Small Piece of a Winner You Can't Run

Operating PrincipleDecentralized Cowboys with Centralized Benchmarks

Risk DoctrineWhat If Not as Decision Filter

Strategic PatternScale Economics as Survival Doctrine

Signature MoveAsk One Sharp Question to Crack Open Intel

Signature MoveCash Flow Not Earnings as Currency

Cornerstone MoveBuy the System, Pay With Its Own Cash Flow

Identity & CultureIntrovert's Edge Through Listening

Primary Evidence

"In the early eighties, I’d begun collecting relationships. For instance, I reached out to Felix Rohatyn, the Lazard Frères banker who had almost single-handedly rescued New York City from bankruptcy in the seventies, and who was on the board of MCA and had Lew Wasserman’s ear. I called and asked to see him, saying, “I need no more than ten minutes of your time.” On my next trip to New York, I went to his office, shook hands, and placed my watch on his desk. Then I said, “I’d love to talk to you about how you saved New York, and also how you advise Lew—to learn from the Dean. And I’d love to be helpful to you in L.A. in any way I can.” All to get him talking and to show that I knew what he’d done and that I admired it and wanted to learn from it. After ten minutes, I said, “Thanks so much,” and stood to pick up my watch. Felix—and everyone else I used this stratagem on—asked me to sit back down. In this way I got to know Herb Allen, the head of Allen & Co., and Bob Greenhill at Morgan Stanley, and I’d always drop in on them when I was in New York—as well as on Mort Janklow and fifteen other book agents, a number of figures in the art world, and our clients Meryl Streep, Mike Nichols, Al Pacino, Sidney Lumet, Bob De Niro, and Marty Scorsese. The relationships outside entertainment would prove useful to CAA in the plans I was beginning to develop. They’d be our bridges to a wider world."

Source:Who Is Michael Ovitz?

"To my chagrin, I was unable to convince Netflix founder Reed Hastings to merge his then-upstart company into DirecTV when I was chairman. Waiting for dinner to be served at a party hosted by Herb Allen at his annual Sun Valley retreat in 2011, Reed explained to me that he was betting the entire company on a rapid switch to distributing movies over the internet. I could see that he was close to cracking the code on streaming content ahead of cable TV, satellite companies—everyone. He passed. Sometimes it’s hard to catch lightning in a bottle."

Source:Born to Be Wired

Appears In Volumes

Who Is Michael Ovitz?Born to Be Wired