> Remote might work to make a decent product, but I don't think you can build something great.
This was the most egregious part of this post, for the examples you outline. But I also take issue with the framing that remote workers are remote because they have an issue with coming into the office. As a remote employee of and on both before and after the pandemic, I've never had a problem with being in an office, and fully enjoy quarterly visits for a week.
Working from home, I put in my regular 40 hours, and then another 10-20 after-hours, depending on the week/deadlines/insomnia. But outside of that time, my family is not in a tech city. If I were a bachelor with no children this fact wouldn't matter as much. But as it is, when I go afk and back into my life, I want to be physically planted _where my life is_. It is incredibly uncomplicated.
Gitlab, Automaticc, Cockroach Labs...So many companies dispute this point.
The open source Linux team is fully remote for christs sake.
Meanwhile Microsoft is office based.
It seems to me the opposite of what you're saying is true.
Remote companies make great products, office companies make average products.