House, being fictitious, might be a bad example though. It's a TV show, so he needs a foil, how else are the viewers supposed to know what he's thinking? Besides, House is great because of the dialogue writing.

I'd say how good a programmer I am doesn't depend on whether I have company. Being a sole founder sucks because there's just so much to do and it's easy to feel overwhelmed, which means you can lose motivation very quickly, and there's nobody there to help you get fired up again.