Even with a specialized social network (like cofounderslab.com) - I would say finding a co-founder is extremely tough and needs equal dollops of luck & hard work. The worse part is that if you do not find the right person, not only will you not make any progress but will also be wasting your own time/motivation/resources.

So yes, I would say do not look at a co-founder as a user acquisition person at this stage (especially if you have zero traffic). Learn the basics of marketing & conversion - they are not tough at all. Take your startup to a position where potential co-founders would atleast be interested in investing their time. Or combine this with a paid intern as you mentioned.

I do work with startups a bit, so if you want to brainstorm this with someone - feel free to send me an email. deepak at withstartups dot com

Good Luck!