If I were starting a company, I would do it by myself or possibly with some friends. I'm very weary of the VC based startup bubble and don't have much interest in starting a company.

not the OP, but I met mine in grad school. We were working on different projects in a similar area. We really only decided to become cofounders after a year of graduating, because finishing one thesis and immediately hopping to another seemed like the fastest way to a burnout.