As a founder of several companies that worked almost completely virtually, you can overcome all these issues.
Inability to brainstorm at any moment? Hardly. Chat is reasonable for this task.
Weakened brainstorming? Maybe. But you can always get together now and then in physical space. We do this every few months if possible.
Paperwork? Um, fax machines, scanners and pdfs. It takes the same amount of time.
Meeting pain? You still have to coordinate both schedules. This is work aroundable.
Motivation and keeping on task? This is a function of personality. It's very true that not everyone can work well virtually. I've found several winners in this regard, but I have also had to fire some people who might have been great in person, but just couldn't cut it remotely.
There are many benefits to working virtually. The talent pool is _much_ larger when it is national or international. The hours are better for everyone. One of my co-workers travels all over surfing in the mornings and working the rest of the day. All your communication (assuming you aren't using the phone much) is logged and can be searched, which is quite handy for those brainstorming sessions. It forces you into decent dev practices and into good communication.
It's not for everyone, surely, but neither is working in an office with your co-workers.
Comments
As a founder of several companies that worked almost completely virtually, you can overcome all these issues.
Inability to brainstorm at any moment? Hardly. Chat is reasonable for this task.
Weakened brainstorming? Maybe. But you can always get together now and then in physical space. We do this every few months if possible.
Paperwork? Um, fax machines, scanners and pdfs. It takes the same amount of time.
Meeting pain? You still have to coordinate both schedules. This is work aroundable.
Motivation and keeping on task? This is a function of personality. It's very true that not everyone can work well virtually. I've found several winners in this regard, but I have also had to fire some people who might have been great in person, but just couldn't cut it remotely.
There are many benefits to working virtually. The talent pool is _much_ larger when it is national or international. The hours are better for everyone. One of my co-workers travels all over surfing in the mornings and working the rest of the day. All your communication (assuming you aren't using the phone much) is logged and can be searched, which is quite handy for those brainstorming sessions. It forces you into decent dev practices and into good communication.
It's not for everyone, surely, but neither is working in an office with your co-workers.