[JohnN]

I think it all depends on your definition of success. Many of the hackers on ycnews seem to want to make money so they can do something else. Becoming financially successful is just a step towards allowing them to concentrate on a passion without worrying about monetization.

In which case it would seem logical to make x million the quickest and easiest way possible. I think many will agree its easier to do that building "mundane, income-producing businesses" than trying to create the next Google. In which case, keep the mundane apps coming...

[pg]

If your goal is to make enough so that you can concentrate on something else, creating a mundane income-producing company is the wrong plan, because it will rapidly stop producing income if you stop paying attention to it.

[nostrademons]

HotOrNot.com or PlentyOfFish.com have done pretty well for their owners...even if they stopped producing income now (which PlentyOfFish may do, given competition from FaceBook), their founders have banked enough off them to live well for the rest of their lives.

I'd imagine 37signals is in that category too...it sounds like they're making a few million in profit each year.

[palish]

There are probably a lot more counterexamples.

[diego]

It depends on your definition of "mundane". You could start a consulting company, take whatever software jobs pay best and make your business grow to the point that it could be attractive to a buyer. This may be boring, but it's easier than creating the next Facebook.

It's also possible to have a mixed model, which is working very well for us. We do some consulting work but only pick clients that are interesting in terms of improving our products or doing work we like. This allows us to be profitable and work on our own interesting stuff without the pressure of concerned investors.

[JohnN]

Not necessarily....hire great team, give them some stock then go on holiday

update - just to be more explicit, the founders of a business need not be involved in its future to make it successful.