This hits home.... I'm working with a distant co-founder right now.
I second each of Mystalic's points, with a single addition: motivation. Everyone -- even startup founders -- needs motivated now and again. When you need it your co-founder will be little help. And (what's much, much worse) when your co-founder needs it your attempts will likely be in vain. Motivation, passion, drive... it's hard enough to sustain those things in a physical setting. Trying to do so in a virtual setting is near-impossible.
I should add a caveat: Motivation is almost never an issue in the beginning, which is why this is such a precarious problem. You'll be tempted to disregard the likelihood for issues down the road in light of the current, rosy status quo. Fact is it's when you hit the dip (like when you miss your first deadline) that things turn sour. Just hope you don't find yourself there without recourse.
My advice is that if you think you absolutely have to found a company with someone in a different geographic region, ask yourself if that's really the case. Chew on it for a night (or a few weeks) if you need to. Err on the side of working with a local co-founder, and if you must work with someone in a different geographic region, move forward with caution.
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This hits home.... I'm working with a distant co-founder right now.
I second each of Mystalic's points, with a single addition: motivation. Everyone -- even startup founders -- needs motivated now and again. When you need it your co-founder will be little help. And (what's much, much worse) when your co-founder needs it your attempts will likely be in vain. Motivation, passion, drive... it's hard enough to sustain those things in a physical setting. Trying to do so in a virtual setting is near-impossible.
I should add a caveat: Motivation is almost never an issue in the beginning, which is why this is such a precarious problem. You'll be tempted to disregard the likelihood for issues down the road in light of the current, rosy status quo. Fact is it's when you hit the dip (like when you miss your first deadline) that things turn sour. Just hope you don't find yourself there without recourse.
My advice is that if you think you absolutely have to found a company with someone in a different geographic region, ask yourself if that's really the case. Chew on it for a night (or a few weeks) if you need to. Err on the side of working with a local co-founder, and if you must work with someone in a different geographic region, move forward with caution.