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If you think about the tenets of a results-only work environment, you may see that employees are expected to do what they feel is necessary to complete the objectives they are given by the expected completion date. In other words, if they see that meeting in person will help them complete the task, they'll do that. If they know that working in an ideal time and location for their own personal preference will let them focus and be productive, they'll spend time doing that. All of the above relies on setting clear, reasonable expectations of what has to be completed, and when it needs to be done. There are a wide variety of ways to communicate, and there are preferences, situations and information that lends itself best to certain communication mediums. In a startup, much of the team may still be developing and learning communication patterns and workflow, so it should be a priority to optimize objective setting and communication early on, and employees should be made aware of the importance of observing and learning optimal work environments for themselves.
Jason: I agree with the idea of providing that type of autonomy, and the communication you describe is paramount to the success of any group.
However, in this case of work environment autonomy, I find people usually don't know what works best for themselves or for the team. In my experience you have more deadlines missed, more excuses made, and worst of all: unmeasurable consequences of people not communicating effectively because they're not in person collaborating in the same room. Work might get done, deadlines might have been hit, but the quality might suffer in ways you might not realize until far after the fact.
You can definitely make remote teams work, but it will require supreme situational awareness and compensation for everything lost. It requires a recognition that remote work is by nature sub-optimal, and forging systems for working around that fact.
So in my opinion, results-only work doesn't resolve the problems with remote work and in fact creates more problems, namely those of self-discipline and communication. You have to resolve all those to make it truly work.