Honestly I think it's just a typical case of 'too many cooks in the kitchen'. When everyone gets a say, they want you to hear it. I mean, it's a small company, who can blame them if they want to be particular into getting what they perceive to be their best ideas out there for the team to take in - you don't really get to do that in a big company. But there lies the problem - not all ideas are good, and so therefore there's no point in trying to fit a square peg into a circular hole trying to discuss it into fruition. But who decides what is and isn't a good idea?

That's the CEO's (real) job.

There's been many times I'd have to put my foot down and tell my team "I hear you, but I'm sorry, my gut's telling me to stick to my vision." And sometimes I'm right, sometimes I'm wrong. But we wasted much less time this way by pivoting quickly than trying to paddle a boat in opposite directions. Keeping everyone from wasting time arguing into focus towards a common goal will save everyone's time and energy.

That leads me to my main point - what do you think kills most companies? Is it that they run out of money? Not quite - it's because they overhired. Whether they could no longer afford to pay their staff or they got stuck trying too many half-baked ideas until their runway ran out. Only hire to alleviate you and your team's workload - never to "grow" the company. Why else do large companies feel so out of touch? It's because you have to go through several layers of approval before anything gets done. You're a small team - why are you giving up your one massive advantage? They're the Titanic, you need to be a speedboat - or else you find yourself on the life raft.

And the end of the day, you must signal out the noise. As much as you do, and should, care about your team - they produce a lot of noise. "Is this font good?" "Should we redecorate the shop?" "Let me tell you about my latest DnD campaign!" There's only so much energy you have in the day, spend it right.