None of those things…I’d be most nervous if they got the talent I wanted. Remote or in person is so far down on the list of things I’d be worried about…

You kind of solved the riddle ypurself - if the “smart and dedicated” criteria have already been satisfied of course ypu want them together. Remote fine if that was the boundary condition to get the best people

I beg to differ I think a good balance is a 3-day in person constricts you to bring your best to the table while you have the other days too gather context and put down solid focus work. Best of both worlds especially for a small startup.

A better poll would be: You hear about two brand new startups that are going to compete with you. You are more nervous about: A) 4 founders who met locally, working out of shared apartment. B) 2 founds who met locally, +2 better-fitting founders who live elsewhere & fully remote

This tells me working remotely is a fantastic way to fly under your competition’s radar…

I think what matters here is the timeframe. If I think short term, full in office scares me, long term it’s full remote that’s the most scary. It’s the new version of “if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together”.

none of the above?

Fully in person if they are in a location that has enough access to talent to scale to my size. They will develop the type of early stage startup mind meld that is so powerful. It's also more likely that they will work longer hours together, which will help them to bond.

I'd be more concerned with the quality and capability of their product than how they work on it.

Let's say that it takes roughly an hour for each to drive in, and the same hour back. That's two otherwise productive hours blown, and not really set up for an 8PM brainstorm if it happens.