That makes me wonder at what point does a business lose the ability to think?

You and your friends in the garage are nimble and hard working, thinking of some way to make it, but at some point a company crosses a transition line and stops being capable of autonomous thought and becomes a machine both greater and lesser than any human.

I would hazard a guess that this transition happens at the point where the company would continue to operate even if all of the founders suddenly died.

Second guess: the moment that something starts happening in the business that the founder does not know about or understand.

Corollary: it’s inevitable