I personally think that founders have a more sentimental value. These are the people that strongly believe in the vision of the company. They will be their work

I personally think that founders have a more sentimental value. These are the people that strongly believe in the vision of the company. They will be their working with you when the cash has dried up (or even before you have funding). If the people that are working with you where to stop getting paid (in cash), would they still be their? If not, I would consider them to be employees, not founders.