> but why is it so impossible to conceive of having a distributed, remote employee base? There are many successful tech companies (and YC startups) that have done this.

And there are some that are even trying to solve that problem by making it easier to remote, like ours (Floobits), and our YC competitors: Screen Hero, Hackpad, Sqwiggle. So there are a lot of options for making remoting easier. I know Zapier has a remote team and those guys are doing fantastic. At Floobits we're entirely remote. And really working from home is the best work experience I've ever had, I don't ever want to have to commute back to SF (I live in the east bay). I've been taking and picking up my daughter from school , I've taken her to the library once a week ever since and I've gone to all her ballet lessons with her. Something I couldn't do when I worked in SF.

I hate that every day working people are priced out of their city, and a socially conscious company could consider remoting as a solution. Good for the community, good for their employees and good for the company.