Once you achieve a certain degree of success, you no longer have the same challenges, concerns, or mindset of the typical "indie dev," yes.

This is a guy whose tech podcast I stopped listening to partly because he and some other dweeb wouldn't shut up about their brand new BMWs.

I think the term we're working with here is "having a runway" -- An independent dev with a pile of money in the bank is in a very different situation from one who needs short-term profitability.

"independent" in these contents tends to mean "works alone" which also implies "has limited resources, both personal and monetary."

If you work alone and you have a few million dollars of fun money to burn, that changes people's perception of you. Now you're not doing it because you have to. Where's the struggle? Now you're just entertaining yourself.

It's like saying Bill Gates is an "independent charity volunteer." Doesn't quite get the point across.