Allow me to try and phrase this in a positive and hopefully realistic way. Don't focus on any one exec as much as all of your people. Many startups that I've co

Allow me to try and phrase this in a positive and hopefully realistic way. Don't focus on any one exec as much as all of your people. Many startups that I've covered (not all, but many) have several people who are truly insightful. THOSE are your thought-leaders. It might be the CEO but is more likely to be someone deep in the trenches. The problem is when companies want to position one specific exec as a thought-leader and he/she simply isn't one. Either that or they want to keep the interesting insights to themselves. That's when you get trouble.