[icoder]

Opening a company of your own solves all your problems and brings back others, only you can decide which you value more. An in-between route would be to go freelance, which in my area (Amsterdam) and our field (software dev) seems just as 'sure' as employment, but gives you more freedom to:

- jump between / serve multiple employers (customers) - play with your hours (ie make some room for side project or other life goals) - play with your hourly rate (making it easier to play with your hours)

In general you may want to move close(r) to hardware dev work (not necessarily going embedded, but at least tied to it), especially within small startups or a mostly independently operating R&D team. Although anecdotal my experience is that this brings you more of what you search for.

PS: As for academia, I wouldn't go as far as saying you can replace it with some Googling / online education, but having been there for some years I do think your conclusion that you will not be happy there might still be correct, it's slow and rigid.