But no VC hands out executive roles to anyone they don't believe to be top talent; they'd destroy their own career, reputation, and compromise the returns of their fund.
Well, then they're just really awful at judging talent, because founder quality is at an inexcusable low.
I doubt they'd destroy their careers by placing incompetent people in these startups. Why? Most of them fail anyway, and that's part of the design. Also, most non-founder executive roles are sinecures.