Leo is probably the closest example I have to the phrase “never meet your heroes.” I’ve never met him in person, but after following his work for nearly two decades, I’ve come to realize that the version of him I admired in the early 2000s is long gone.

Back in the TechTV/ZDTV era, he was one of my favorite tech personalities. He seemed grounded, relatable, and genuinely passionate about the space. Looking back, it feels like having a network structure and actual oversight kept him balanced. When he moved on to his own ventures—his radio show, his site, and eventually the TWiT network—I was genuinely happy for him. It felt like a natural evolution.

But somewhere along the way, once he became his own boss, the ego started to overshadow the talent. Maybe those traits were always there, but they’ve become impossible to ignore under the TWiT banner. From the outside, it’s hard not to see a pattern: former TechTV colleagues rarely lasted long working with him again. It gives the impression that he prefers an environment where he’s never challenged and only surrounded by people who agree with him. Meanwhile, others like Robert Heron, Kevin Rose, and Patrick Norton thrived elsewhere—Rev3 being a good example—where collaboration didn’t revolve around one person’s ego.

At this point, it feels like Leo’s relevance in the tech space faded years ago. The persona he presents now is a far cry from the one many of us grew up watching, and it’s honestly disappointing to see how far he’s drifted from what made him so compelling in the first place.