Grant and Niels are correct when they mention "speed" and "tweaking your product constantly".

However, that has zero correlation to having people on-site. Over the past 13 years I've seen thousands of bored people working 9-to-5 jobs at the office, and hundreds of dedicated remote engineers. None of these options is exclusive in any way.

Companies such as GitHub and Automattic are completely remote. That trend is moving forward, and it gives you the opportunity to hire the best of the best without being limited location-wise. I've been managing and working with remote people for many years and I haven't stepped into an office since 2008 (except for meetings or teaching).

The only things you need to take care of are:

1) Don't go for the cheapest option. Go for reputation, portfolio, references, community activities and such. That can still be much cheaper than hiring people, just don't try outsourcing to the cheapest agency out there.

2) Protect your product and intellectual property - there are various of companies burned out by an avenging sysadmin who got fired, but sharing everything you got offshore should happen carefully. Right back to 1) here.

3) Commit in the long run - if you're open and you can guarantee a decent retainer option, you're good to go. That doesn't stop you from expanding, hiring extra consultants and freelancers etc - and that would likely make your product development times faster in comparison to doing a tedious hiring process and looking for decent engineers in your area.

Most traditional managers can't imagine managing a remote team, but it's just as easy with the right mindset. Let me know if you want to discuss hiring tips for remote engineers.