Hiring in Startups and the danger of 'hiring down'

Due Diligence:"Hiring in Startups:

managers who consciously or unconsciously hire those who are not potentially threatening (intellectually or politically). Big companies in fat times can survive some amount of this behavior, a new venture cannot. If you look at a startup where the CEO feels much stronger than all of his reports, you're seeing a failure in the making.

and A VC: Why CEOs Fail