> but it is absolutely much harder Agree. But the upside is big too.

Is learning to ride a bicycle hard? Of course. But once you learn to ride a bicycle, the benefits are immense. That is why people learn to ride a bike in spite of the initial difficulty. They know that the payoff is much larger in the end.

If you can figure out how to be effective in a remote setup, you will not only learn how to work remotely, but also how to communicate well in a team. Physical distance should and will become a nonissue for a software development team.