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Why would anyone even want investors that didn't believe in the founder sufficiently to agree not to displace him for X years, or else pay founder lots and lots of money? While it may turn many investors away, I know I wouldn't want a group of investors that didn't believe in my ability to run the company and were just trying to get away with a coup that will allow them to control the IP.

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If that is important to you, you can make it clear to the investors before they come in, and get them to agree to limit their ability to remove you from the board and from your position running the company. This can be done in a shareholders agreement. The problem is (a) if you need the investors more than they need you, they will not agree to this, and (b) people often think of this only when they are on the verge of getting the boot, when it is too late to work something out. Investments usually always begin with everyone singing "kumbaya" in harmony, and every investor always says they invest in founders, but when things don't go according to plan, the founder who's sold control is often going to be the first to go.

It's about leverage. Big companies try to attract "superstar" CXOs who have bargaining power to get "golden parachutes". Most startup founders don't have that kind of leverage.

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