I have no doubt that this gentleman (Balsillie) is effective. He basically created a vertical, dominated it, and then lost it rather quickly for several arguable reasons. POET is on the cusp of "disrupting", all of the verticals, and probably creating a few along the way through the ability, creativity, and vision that is called engineering. I personally feel that we need someone with, extreme competence, vision, and strategic persistence to name only three.

I believe that this position is going to evolve very quickly into something bigger than what I would feel comfortable having Balsillie running, given his history. The right person will be found (or has been).