I’ve been doing this as a contractor. I started in my home country, where $50/h is a lot—established relationships over time with people who value solid developers and hate handholding as much as I do. Over time progressed and tripled my rate and now do maintenance work primarily and combine personal business projects. I sacrificed corp. Life and lots of money but gained a lot of flexibility and traveled a lot. As a non-US work authorized person, it wasn’t much of an option anyway.

I’d say this: if you’re outside of the US, the best companies for this approach are in the Nordics. If you are US-based, the number of companies who fit this profile are non-tech founders who look for an all-in-one developer who can move the needle and establish everything until there are more funds or traction. Stakeholders have to value the quality of life more than anything esle.