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In the same sense, would you say Bill G was prototypical CEO material? No, but look what he built. Ozzie is awkward too, but he founded and sold two software companies for a fortune. Zuckerberg is introverted and awkward too, but look what he has built. The notion that a CEO, especially in tech, should be a business degree toting, people-person, non-technical CEO like Ballmer is wrong.

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I don't care about prototypes, I'm just talking about results. Bill Gates was an atypical CEO, but he had a combination of business, technical, and personal acumen that worked effectively together. Neither Ozzie nor, so far as history has judged, Ballmer have anywhere near that same level of capability. At best they appear to do no better than J. Average non-tech savvy CEOs. In a world filled with folks like Larry Ellison, Eric Schmidt, and Steve Jobs that level of skill is a recipe for getting your ass handed to you in the market.

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