You've put your finger on one of the most interesting problems in the software world:
How can great teams come together and do great work?
At the risk of over-simplifying, I see two main types of software start-up:
Full-breadth teams that come together face-to-face (but may work remotely)
Commercially-focused teams that form around concepts, and outsource major parts of the development
There is great infrastructure to support both of these, but my experience in corporate development tells me that a scratch team of capable people will be more likely to succeed in whatever it undertakes than either of these limited start-points.
To put that another way, in corporate life you tend to recognise that concept development and business development are linked but distinct skill sets. And in the startup world, you often come across teams who are essentially concept developers failing to progress to aggressive commercialization, and teams who could take over the world if only they had the ability to generate a well-formed startup proposition. Great startups will work creatively to ensure both skills are well-represented in the founding team.
So you could certainly go it alone and pursue the micro-ISV route. But you might also think about how to spot people you'd like to work with - and then make contact. There's every chance that there's someone out there with a well-thought-through and executable idea (maybe the thing they're thinking of for their next-but-one startup!), who'd be willing to team up with you to mutual benefit. And there's every chance that there's someone who's highly skilled at prioritizing and refining your ideas and could help you make the best start.
So my advice would be to invest in building relationships with people you can imagine working with, and look for those opportunities.
When they arise, location won't be a limiting factor!
