cperciva, I completely understand the sentiment, and I can relate to it as a single-founder myself (not really a "founder", not yet, for now I am a solo consultant.)
But I don't think infrastructure/libraries can be considered "co-founders", because they don't give you new ideas and insight.
You see, to be able to use a certain solution, platform, library, etc. You have to know of it, know of its uses, and know how you might use for a specific problem.
OTOH, co-founders, domain-experts with vested interest in your enterprise, are not just mere resources to be called upon when needed and put to use. They are not just a knowledge-base of solutions. No. They're engines for creating new solutions, but also the means to pose knew questions and problems. Problems you never knew you had, and solutions you never thought of, or thought were acceptable (like "who cares, forget it" -- humans are excellent at these types of dismissive approaches to problem solving; we have an intuitive knack for ruling out issues that are not worth bothering with. And by "we" I don't mean programmers, sticklers for the tedium and observers of minutia.)
At the very least, a human co-founder allows you to take a day off, picks up your spouse from the airport, and comes with you for happy hour. I would kill for someone who is "in" on it with me. These types of "benefits" might not merit any sophisticated Rumsfeldian epistemology ("there are unknown unknowns", etc.) but they're very important, and I say that as someone who sorely lacks them.
But I don't think infrastructure/libraries can be considered "co-founders", because they don't give you new ideas and insight.
You see, to be able to use a certain solution, platform, library, etc. You have to know of it, know of its uses, and know how you might use for a specific problem.
OTOH, co-founders, domain-experts with vested interest in your enterprise, are not just mere resources to be called upon when needed and put to use. They are not just a knowledge-base of solutions. No. They're engines for creating new solutions, but also the means to pose knew questions and problems. Problems you never knew you had, and solutions you never thought of, or thought were acceptable (like "who cares, forget it" -- humans are excellent at these types of dismissive approaches to problem solving; we have an intuitive knack for ruling out issues that are not worth bothering with. And by "we" I don't mean programmers, sticklers for the tedium and observers of minutia.)
At the very least, a human co-founder allows you to take a day off, picks up your spouse from the airport, and comes with you for happy hour. I would kill for someone who is "in" on it with me. These types of "benefits" might not merit any sophisticated Rumsfeldian epistemology ("there are unknown unknowns", etc.) but they're very important, and I say that as someone who sorely lacks them.