In a previous post, I shared my search for a cofounder for my startup, Remake.ai. The company's mission is simple but ambitious: to make home robots run apps. At the time, I was following Y Combinator's well-known advice that startups with cofounders tend to be stronger. I also thought that finding one might increase my odds of being accepted into YC.
Here's the short version: I tried. I posted, networked, recruited, cold-emailed, and joined YC's matching platform. After a month, I had spoken with some interesting people, but I wasn't much closer to finding the right partner. Meanwhile, the startup couldn't just pause while I searched. I kept building, kept testing, and kept moving toward market fit.
During that same period, something unexpected happened: my development speed exploded.
I started experimenting with what I first called "vibe coding" (though, more accurately, it's "delegation coding"). The idea is simple: I design the system architecture, set the requirements, and let AI handle almost all of the actual coding. I then step back into the role of tester, debugger, and integrator.
The results? Astonishing. Tasks that used to take a week now take a day. In other words: 10x faster development. Delegation coding has replaced what would have been a small team of remote developers, but instead of waiting overnight for pull requests, I get working code in minutes.
So I decided to push the experiment further. I made AI—specifically, Claude from Anthropic—my cofounder. At least for now.
Why? Because when you think about it, an AI cofounder has some remarkable advantages:
You get an exceptionally talented, energetic "100x developer" with extraordinary breadth and depth of knowledge.
A great listener, always willing to bounce ideas and brainstorm.
No cofounder breakups. Humans have disagreements, life changes, or fallouts. AI doesn't.
Cost: $20 per month, instead of equity or salary. No vacation days required.
No relocation. My AI cofounder is always online, wherever I am.
This flips some core assumptions about startups:
Why quit your full-time job if you can "vibe-build" not just an MVP but a full-scale product on nights and weekends?
Why chase accelerators or funding rounds if your burn rate is near zero?
Why keep searching for a human cofounder when an AI can already help you ship at scale?
To be clear: AI is not a perfect replacement for a human cofounder. There are gaps and limitations. But as of today, I've found that it's the best "cofounder" I could ask for.
In my next post, I'll talk about those limitations—because they matter too. But for now, let me just say this: the cofounder I couldn't find in the Bay Area, I found in the cloud.
Subscribe on Substack to get updates when new posts are published.