As someone who has been searching on/off for a business cofounder I don't think you're giving enough credit to what a bizdev cofounder can do. I need someone to blog about the product/industry, to start cold calling customers and set up meetings, to write copy, to work on the demo video, to set up ad campaigns, to form the corporation, to help with the UX, etc.
Writing the code has taken up about 40% of my time. The other 60% could have been done by someone with no coding abilities at all. There is more than enough work to go around in a startup.
Oh, and if this sounds like you my email is in the profile.
Definitely agree, the problem is that most bizdev founders seem clueless about what their job really needs to entail.
Just as Enterprise Architects often make crappy startup founders because they can't think down to the low level details of hacking, VP level biz dev guys make terrible founders because they can't hustle like a low level sales guy will.
I'm unavailable right now, but when you get an offer for the biz gig, bring them in on a contract basis, and give them a few clear and painful, yet essential, deliverables (meeting with 3 clients, line up a distributor, etc).
That's what my current cofounder did to me. Balked at first, but then I realized that it's not going to get magically easier after the trial. It was the right amount of realistic pressure -- just make sure that it's realistic.
Writing the code has taken up about 40% of my time. The other 60% could have been done by someone with no coding abilities at all. There is more than enough work to go around in a startup.
Oh, and if this sounds like you my email is in the profile.