Well, the truth is there is very little you or any manager (other exec) can do to change the situation. In general, this will only change through failures gett

Well, the truth is there is very little you or any manager (other exec) can do to change the situation. In general, this will only change through failures getting the attention of the investors and/or board who can effect change in the CEO. If the CEO is as egotistical as you say there is no way the CEO will take advice from anyone about getting mentoring and changing their behavior. Of course, if the CEO has enough failures and starts seeing the errs of the current ways (best case), then it is still possible it gets fixed. I have seen this when I was a consultant for many companies and startups. The common trend is the companies would work for some period of time because of the good people around the CEO making it work. The reality is all that does is delay the CEO's failure and makes them think they are doing it right. Eventually though, people leave, new people come in and the amount of time they spend trying to fix things gets less and less to the point the company can't tread water and the cracks begin to get too big to stick a finger in. BTW -- I've seen this with good CEO's too who were too passive. Typically there would be an exec or manager that was destroying the business and the CEO was too hands off/passive, so it isn't just a CEO that can cause this kind of damage. My 2 cents, find a new place to work as there is little you can do to change the situation in the role you have. If you want to try and help fix it, find a high visibility project or issue to recommend/bring in a skilled & respected consultant who has direct interaction with the CEO, board or investor(s). It may still blow up, but the consultant can say things and push in ways employees can't, and if they have interaction with the board or a relationship with an investor they can backchannel pressure in ways you could never do (easily/safely) as an employee.