At some point, the CEO is going to ask the CTO why the product hasn't been delivered. If this doesn't happen, the board will eventually intervene and install a

At some point, the CEO is going to ask the CTO why the product hasn't been delivered. If this doesn't happen, the board will eventually intervene and install a new Cxx suite. The financial pressure will eventually correct these issues. The cost of borrowing is non-zero now. Investors are going to want to see happier customers much sooner than before. Hobbling along with a handful of marginally happy customers for a decade isn't going to cut it anymore. The most likely corrective measure is that the company goes away because they couldn't course correct in time. This is often the tragic consequence of tech egos (often the CTO) refusing to be sublimated in service of the actual business needs.