[jokethrowaway]

Smaller companies are less stressful but they often give you no autonomy or purpose.

It can be a good economic / stress tradeoff but it will suck your soul.

Left job with a unicorn because of stress, I make more than double that by contracting with smaller businesses and working less - but I'm way more depressed about the job.

I think a happy medium might be to run your small product company. I do that on the side as well, but it brings 1/10th of what I can make contracting.