Ted Levitt dies
I discovered the power of business writing when I brought his article Marketing Myopia to the president of Activision in 1983. I was applying to be a summer intern. He was president of the fastest growing company in the history of the world (really). I told him how the company was about to completely miss the PC revolution and probably fail.
Jim looked at the article, looked at me, preparing to throw me out forever.
At that moment, a secretary walked in with the CashBox top 10 list of bestselling video games. Activision had 8 of 10. He smiled. He forgot about me. He looked over, smiled, and said, "You’re hired!"
For complicated reasons, I never did work at Activision. But Ted Levitt changed my life. Thanks, Ted, wherever you are!
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