I often wondered, what is it that distinguishes the best tech CEOs from the not so good ones. 

And someone gave me a glimpse last week. 

The best tech CEOs always know the product 5 years out. 

Not today. Not tomorrow. Not the next sprint. Or 10 such sprints. 

It’s 5 years out. 

A time so far out that everything we know of technology today would make the problem almost impossible to solve, if it were to be solved today. 

But they operate on the belief that it can be and will be solved, by the time they get there. 

And they guard that dream. Share it as if sipping wine. Offering a sneak only to chosen ones. And those conversations end up being fascinating. 

Suddenly, the ones being offered the future, are lifted above their daily rut. Their schedule. Their salary. Their current and next plan. All material around them. 

Or they mock the audacity of the plan. They can’t believe the earth is round. 

You either die living the future. Or live long enough to poison the present.