I will give you a kind of personal experience.
My brother flew to the U.S. 15 years ago (age 18) to meet his co-founder that he met online. They chat and talk for months before that. The decided to start the company together, and he comes to the U.S. a couple of times a year. He still lives in South America, is the CTO, manages a 50 people team. His company is doing $10M+ revenue today.

It is possible. It's not easy, but if you find the right person you want to partner with, it doesn't matter where you are. You will make it work. Don't build with people far away just because of low cost. Build with the people that share your vision and are passionate as you that this will be an incredible adventure. As that flight 15 yrs ago... what an adventure