It's semantics but I like to separate money from profits. You need money to pay people and to survive but you don't need to be raking in endlessly growing piles of it. This is something that was really demoralizing about working for a big company, they could be making like 50000000000 a year in just profits but still be ruthless in getting more. Like I just want to make a product I'm proud of and I'm happy living a simple life, I am happier now making less money but not feeling like I'm endlessly milking customers.

Once you take on investors, that’s not an option. VCs expect rapid growth and an exit - statistically through acquisition, but occasionally an IPO.

Once you go public, then you have investor pressure and can be subject to activist investors unless the founder has controlling interests like in the case of Meta and Google.

That is not semantics. It is fundamental economics.