yo can still hire people without necessarily giving them complete responsibility. You have to be clear - are you looking for someone to be a cofounder (or someone with huge amount of say in your company) or as a regular employee. From what you have written I am assuminng you are looking for a managerial position (so possibly large say). In this case, I would say is try to find someone you are atleast aquaintance with, maybe a old school or college mate with shared interest, It can also help rekindle old friendships. You can definitely have a close friend onboard, but make sure they are close enough that any small work space shit will not hamper relations.