Well, since they got 10 employees by spending time instead of lots of money (e.g. at least 10 x $15k), then it may well be a good tradeoff for a company/founder that's (relatively) time-rich/cash-poor.
If you’re cash poor why the hell are you based in SF? It’s insanity.
The talent pool? I was hiring in LA and the pool was an inch deep and a mile wide. Lots of shifting through the bad to get to the good, and then good luck competing with google, Netflix, and to some degree Snapchat.
Disagree, many more companies are comfortable with remote, and a LOT more employees are happy to work outside of the coast these days. The traditional tech hubs in the US are oversaturated and cannot deliver cost of living value anymore.
They only got 6 engineers and I am not sure their method would have scaled if they needed a few more. Since they had investment money it might have been better to spend more to find people faster.