I'm guilty as anyone of being a xenophile, but the analogy doesn't hold for scale reasons: The CEO of a startup is the leader and public face, so should be in

I'm guilty as anyone of being a xenophile, but the analogy doesn't hold for scale reasons: The CEO of a startup is the leader and public face, so should be in command of the company's message. If this person cannot make themselves understood, their odds of success are zilch a priori. If anything, a big football shop is a highly-adapted enterprise with tons of cash that can afford extravagance. They have already scaled and can afford specialized subject-matter experts with multitudes of baggage. In an early startup, you need "go doers": those that are infinitely more capable on average to either get shit done or know what shit actually needs doing (and fast). Later on, the time will be right to bring on more specialized people as the early founders may start to get bored.