CEO is a specific type of role that doesn’t have much relevance to someone like you. You’re much more likely to get value out of talking to a successful founder, someone who went from nothing to something. That said, a lot of it can be distilled down to this: work on something and don’t stop. Set aside the idea that you need to speak to the right people and instead focus on doing. You can achieve a great deal with just a dream and hard work (and some luck) but to do that, you need to focus on removing the barriers from yourself — in any way possible. Believe in yourself. Focus on what you can do, not what you can’t.