> You could parachute him [Sam] into an island full of cannibals and come back in five years and he’d be the king
– pg, 2008
– pg, 2008
I mean, surely I could say something like this about some of my acquaintances. Probably I have said that. But this doesn't really mean anything, and you shouldn't quote these jokes of mine as if they actually do.
My point is, there's that myth about "special" people. You know, like, there are NPCs, and there is Napoleon. But even though there are people I consider more capable and less capable, more interesting and less interesting, I don't know anybody I would truly believe to be special. And in the real world, everybody would die on that island just the same.
But then, I'm surely less well connected than Graham, and I don't even know many billionaires personally. So I cannot help but wonder.
Whatever their falling out was like, it likely happened much later than 2008.
But yes, knowing some CEOs, I'd say there are rare (at the population level) traits that predispose you to success in that role.
An ability to sell a vision, which can become pathological detachment from reality long before this trait becomes detrimental to your ability to fundraise for a startup.
An ability to focus on the mission and not get bogged down in details, which can become pathological sociopathy/psychopathy long before this trait becomes detrimental to the company.
Gift of the gab / eloquence is very helpful.
A willingness to sacrifice a lot to achieve one's goals, which is usually detrimental to any kind of life outside of the business.
Basically, CEOs are weirdos, the job is way harder than non-founders will ever know, and it definitely has selection pressures and feedback loops that can concentrate some extremely toxic traits if you're not careful. Most people don't want to be CEOs if they understand what it actually means, and most people wouldn't want to self-modify their personality to make them a lot more CEO-like.