Regarding (1), are you selling B2B or B2C. I've found that B2C customers typically don't care that much, and if anything they are happy to be communicating with the founder. This is true once you have something built. It may be different when you're still at the idea phase, and thinking about building.
B2B customers will definitely care. Some will ask you to have millions in insurance and source code in escrow before they'll work with you. But there are some out there that are more flexible, or who just don't think about it that much.
Regarding (3), it's good to be in a big city for networking purposes, but these days it doesn't really matter that I'm in SV. I go to meetups only occasionally, and most of my networking happens at conferences. If you're finding it's hard to talk with customers remotely, then I guess it would be worth it to consider relocating. But I'd prioritize keeping the burn rate low, which means your small town is going to win out over a big city.