Why I'm Flying to Work with Remote Engineers (vs. Finding Bay Area Cofounder)
Three months ago, I started searching for a cofounder for my robotics startup in California. The ideal candidate profile was clear: 10x engineer, top-tier school credentials (helpful for fundraising pre-traction), located in the SF Bay Area.
After three months of searching—including creative outreach that generated half a dozen face-to-face interviews—I found exactly zero cofounders. The Expiration Date
Here’s the thing about cofounder searches: they have an expiration date. At some point, the business needs to move to its next phase, with or without the perfect cofounder. I hit that point two weeks ago during a manufacturing trip to China.
While there, I did some math. The cost of flying to China and staying for two weeks was two orders of magnitude less than paying a single month’s SF Bay Area salary for an engineer ($2K/month vs $160/year + $2K/month benefits + $25K capital rais bonus + equity).
That’s when I realized I was optimizing for the wrong constraint.
Splitting the “Ideal” Cofounder
I was looking for someone who was both a 10x engineer and had top-tier credentials. But what if I split that persona into two separate hires?
New approach:
Hire 1: Remote high-performer via Upwork - $20-80/hour (2x to 4x cheaper than SF startup salaries) - Autonomous, enthusiastic, hard worker - Location: anywhere
Hire 2: Part-time advisor with tier-1 credentials - Equity only - Primary role: help with fundraising credibility - Location: anywhere
My wife is okay with me traveling, so I dropped the location filter entirely.
The Problem with Remote at This Stage
Here’s where it gets tricky. I’m still at the very early MVP stage. The ideation and trial-and-error loop is brutally fast—especially because I’m using Claude Code to implement ideas. (I use Claude for everything in MVP prototyping, and it’s been fantastic.)
The problem: that fast iteration loop doesn’t work well with remote. If I send specs in the evening, get implementation in the morning, test during the day, and repeat—we’re already adding 12+ hour delays to each cycle. When you’re running multiple cycles per day in-person, going remote feels like moving through molasses.
The Solution: Hybrid “Out-Person” + Remote
Here’s what I’m planning: - Fly to the freelancer’s city - Stay in a hotel for 1-2 weeks - Bring hardware and MVP prototype with me - Work face-to-face to get them to 100% productivity - Return home - Work remotely until the next in-person sprint is needed - Repeat
The cost structure makes sense. A week or two of travel + accommodation + focused work is still 10x dramatically cheaper than SF salaries. And I can work from anywhere with my laptop.
What do you think about it? - Has anyone else tried this hybrid approach? How did it work out? - What are the failure modes I’m not seeing? - Is this sustainable long-term?
If you are talking 2 weeks monthly, and you are considering 2 people for the two split roles, you might end up travelling the whole time (or "just" 4 weeks a month :)).
Not sure if you ever travelled for a week or more monthly, but I did it for a year or two, and it was mentally and physically taxing: you are packing and unpacking constantly, you are missing family and friend events, and it's hard to plan and create family. Or settle in a new home. Or do any personal project that requires more than a month (from improving your bike to taking a cooking course).
I agree, it's a sacrifice. Yes, I've traveled a lot. I'm an ex-executive.
I'm 53, two kids (one grown up), no pressure to build a family. On the other hand, even when I was younger, my family would not see me anyway (except weekends).
I frame it like this: I've got to do whatever it takes to take the startup through this most difficult period.
I feel like you’re focused on the cost but not the other aspects eg do you really want to constantly spend 2 weeks in a hotel away from your wife? Or is someone you train for 2 weeks really going to give you the characteristics you desire for your team? Or is a part time adviser in another place really going to give you the credibility you desire?
I'm super productive away in a hotel!! And not productive at home (everyone wants my attention).
Cost is important, but #1 is getting things done.
Training for 2 weeks - I keep it to 5 days, yes it is enough. They are already full stack (this is a full stack engineer job) pros. Obviously, they don't know everything - in that case I tell them: "Ask Claude/Claude Code; if Claude/Claude Code does not help you, ask me."
I give them a relatively small piece of work and see if they sink or swim situation. Some people step up. I want to work with these people.
I wish I could clone myself - and I now, I think I can, thanks to AI agents. Let me hack a clone agent right now.
This is an inverse of the Australian > billion tonne per annum resources industry that has operated via FiFo (Fly In | Fly Out) for longer than two decades.
If the economics and schedules work for the people taking part it's clearly sustainable.
The great thing about IT is the software people can be remote from the hardware and anywhere they can collaborate can be the (or one of several work hubs).
Even the hardware engineers can live remote from hardware hubs if they're happy to FiFo for on site direct hands on support shifts.
Thank you for being positive! Much appreciated!