为什么我选择飞往与远程工程师合作（而不是寻找湾区联合创始人）
三个月前，我开始在加利福尼亚寻找我的机器人创业公司的联合创始人。理想的候选人特征很明确：10倍工程师，顶尖学校的学历（这对融资前期有帮助），位于旧金山湾区。
经过三个月的寻找，包括一些创造性的联系，产生了六次面对面的面试，但我一个联合创始人都没有找到。
**过期日期**
关于寻找联合创始人的事情是：它有一个过期日期。在某个时候，业务需要进入下一个阶段，无论是否有完美的联合创始人。我在两周前的中国制造之行中达到了这一点。
在那期间，我做了一些计算。飞往中国并停留两周的费用比支付旧金山湾区一名工程师一个月的薪水低两个数量级（$2K/月对比$160K/年 + $2K/月福利 + $25K资本筹集奖金 + 股权）。
那时我意识到我在优化错误的约束条件。
**拆分“理想”联合创始人**
我在寻找一个既是10倍工程师又有顶尖学历的人。但如果我将这个角色拆分为两个独立的雇佣呢？
新方法：
- 雇佣1：通过Upwork远程高效能人才
- $20-80/小时（比旧金山初创公司薪水便宜2到4倍）
- 自主、热情、勤奋
- 地点：不限
- 雇佣2：拥有顶尖学历的兼职顾问
- 仅提供股权
- 主要角色：帮助提升融资的可信度
- 地点：不限
我妻子同意我出差，所以我完全放弃了地点限制。
**这个阶段远程工作的难题**
这里变得棘手。我仍然处于非常早期的MVP阶段。构思和试错的循环非常迅速——尤其是因为我使用Claude Code来实现想法。（我在MVP原型制作中使用Claude，效果非常好。）
问题是：快速迭代循环与远程工作不太兼容。如果我在晚上发送规格，早上得到实施，白天进行测试，然后重复——我们已经在每个循环中增加了12小时以上的延迟。当你在现场每天进行多个循环时，远程工作感觉就像在蜜糖中移动。
**解决方案：混合“出人”+远程**
这是我计划的内容：
- 飞往自由职业者所在的城市
- 在酒店停留1-2周
- 带上硬件和MVP原型
- 面对面工作，使他们达到100%的生产力
- 回家
- 远程工作，直到下一个面对面的冲刺需要
- 重复
这样的成本结构是合理的。一到两周的旅行+住宿+集中工作仍然比旧金山的薪水便宜10倍。而且我可以随时随地用我的笔记本电脑工作。
你对此怎么看？
- 还有其他人尝试过这种混合方法吗？效果如何？
- 我没有看到的失败模式是什么？
- 这种方式在长期内可持续吗？
查看原文
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.<p>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<p>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.<p>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).<p>That’s when I realized I was optimizing for the wrong constraint.<p>Splitting the “Ideal” Cofounder<p>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?<p>New approach:<p>Hire 1: Remote high-performer via Upwork
- $20-80/hour (2x to 4x cheaper than SF startup salaries)
- Autonomous, enthusiastic, hard worker
- Location: anywhere<p>Hire 2: Part-time advisor with tier-1 credentials
- Equity only
- Primary role: help with fundraising credibility
- Location: anywhere<p>My wife is okay with me traveling, so I dropped the location filter entirely.<p>The Problem with Remote at This Stage<p>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.)<p>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.<p>The Solution: Hybrid “Out-Person” + Remote<p>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<p>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.<p>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?