The lower the CEO salary, the more likely it is to succeed.<p>The CEO’s salary sets a cap for everyone else. If it is set at a high level, you end up burning a whole lot more money. It aligns his interest with the equity holders. But [beyond that], it goes to whether the mission of the company is to build something new or just collect paychecks.<p>In practice we have found that if you only ask one question, ask that.