Sure, he’s an angel investor, so of course he, like any VC, needs companies to be big, fast. But this is very seldom what’s best for the company. As Joel Spolsky called it in Strategy Letter I¹, they want to be Ben and Jerry’s, not Amazon.
That seems to be the default complaint from investors about the cultures in non-valley places: "They choose risk/reward balances most beneficial to themselves instead of the investors. That makes them less attractive than the firms that structure themselves as outsourced R&D teams paid in lottery tickets".
I agree with you, of course ALL investors prefer companies to "burn out than to fade away."
BUT - at the same time all cultures have their issues. I think the Nordics are "punching above their weight" statistically. But at the same time, we are held back by honestly a fear of "beeing seen."
I have no problem with founders aiming for building stable good lifestyle companies or even consultancy shops. But then they should say that. If they are raising money, then by god they have to play the investor game.