MG Siegler asked the internet, is there a Kaepernick of startups? He recounted the replacement of star quarterback Alex Smith with super-star quarterback Colin Kaepernick, and posited that perhaps replacing a CEO is analogous to replacing a quarterback. Siegler made many great insights riffing on this notion and I’d like to continue his line of thinking drawing parallels between football and business. Despite popular culture’s many trite comparisons between sports and business, there actually may be some reason that those sports-themed motivational posters left over from the 90's that still hang in coffee-scented cubicles.

Here’s my take on how positions on a football team correspond to positions in a company. Just to make it more fun, let’s compare the San Francisco 49ers to another Bay Area favorite, Apple Inc.

1. The Team’s Coach is the CEO: Jim Harbaugh = Tim Cook
Coaches spend their week developing strategies and call the plays when the game is on. But they’re not the one throwing the ball, and they’re certainly not out there blocking and tackling. Similarly, good CEOs are focused on defining goals, strategies and making important game-time decisions but leave the real work up to the team they’ve hired and trust.

2. The Quarterback is Design and Engineering: Colin Kaepernick = Jony Ive
The most important thing a business can do is to make something that people want. In pursuit of that goal, it is the design and engineering team that determines the quality of the final product. In football, the quarterback is the guy who is at the heart of turning each play from clipboard concept into reality. He’s not calling the plays during the game, but he is making the split-second decisions about which receiver to throw to or when to down the ball. A great quarterback will take a team very far, just like great products are central to making a business a success.

3. The Wide Receiver is Marketing: Michael Crabtree = Phil Schiller
A great product is worthless if no one wants to buy it, just like a perfectly thrown football will turn into a lost play if no one is there to catch it. Conversely, a great wide receiver can catch a poorly thrown ball and a slick marketeer can turn even Snuggies into profit. Tim Cook and Jony Ive need Phil Schiller just like Jim Harbaugh and Colin Kaepernick need Michael Crabtree.

4. The Runningback is Sales: Frank Gore = Angela Ahrendts
Runningbacks are tough, tasked with breaking through a defensive line and getting tackled to the ground every play just to gain 4 yards. That kind of thick-skinned perseverance is shared by great sales reps, who get out there in front of the customer to be told no 100 times just to get 1 yes. Businesses need that standing army of salespeople to drive revenue year in and year out, just like football teams need a running game to augment their passing plays. The sales reps at the Apple Store lead by former Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts are the brawn behind the only retail operation more profitable than literally selling diamonds, which in this analogy corresponds to Frank Gore running for over 1,100 yards this season to take the 49er’s to the playoffs.

5. The Offensive Line is Operations: Jonathan Goodwin = Jeff Williams
All those fancy-pants play-callers and ball-handlers amount to nothing when they’re covered in defensive lineman pulling them to the ground. That’s where the offensive line comes in, blocking and tackling so the rest of the team can put points on the board. Business operations fulfill a similar function, running the framework to scale the business so the product and sales guys can go out there and bring in revenue. These are not glamorous jobs, but having good people in them is critical to getting the job done.

6. The Team’s Owner is the Board: Edward D. Bartolo = Arthur D. Levinson
Successful football teams have high quality owners. The team’s owner has the job of hiring and firing the coach, assisting with beneficial business deals like getting a stadium built, and mostly staying out of the way and making sure that their team has what it needs. The best board members are there to advise, provide helpful introductions, and assist with important deals while making sure that the CEO has what he needs to run the business.