Lots of these people exist. They’re small business owners that aren’t chasing huge profits, but have built something both profitable and sustainable without compromising their free time.

Sadly, we normalise the “founder” as someone chasing after Google and Amazon, rather than the person that didn’t want to work for someone, built something that people like, and are able to live off of what they make from it. I’ve watched people build tools for fewer than five clients, stick a retainer on lifetime support, and live off of a modest salary that lets them work fewer hours than a normal job, with a good enough salary that they are protected if business goes south and they need to find a salaried job.