Where remote work is a viable option, then it's obviously easy to tackle.

Where it isn't, set up shop in a smaller market that isn't the valley and have a separate office. Execs can split-time between the locations if necessary, but standing up an office in Houston, Austin, Atlanta, or wherever, and hiring another manager for that location can pay for itself quickly, considering wage-market discrepancy.

My office is in Mountain View, but I live in Annapolis, MD. We have an office in Georgetown, DC, that's about an hour away from me. I work from home, but have the convenience of the DC office in the event that I need to physically sign papers, get stationery, or whatever, and I fly out to MV for a week every couple of months, or every quarter.

Our company has a services division as well, that is mostly remote (though, remote in that scenario is generally on customer premises), and while sure, we have a need for office in some spots, we most of the time don't, so we oversubscribe desks and such. I think we have 6 desks in the Georgetown office for 20-something employees, and it's extremely rare that they're ever full.

It's not remote if it's a satellite office. Hire 3-6 people, rent a space, slap a sign on the door, it's now "Dropbox Pennsylvania" or whatever.

SF is really about concluding deals face to face and access for startups. Your main office could be in Costa Rica or Moldavia it doesnt matter(and I have great respect for these countries ), you want to sell a product or VC,it's better to actually have someone in SF, network is everything in business.

Sure, it just takes a certain type of employee. Needs to be someone who values autonomy and is working on things that don't need two guys on a keyword in front of a monitor trying to figure out.

I'm sure for some companies. Personally, I have to deal with too many physical things that require my presence for it to be viable.

Never seems to be.

"suburb"

Yeah, it turns out there's a lot more space in suburbs than urban centers.