^ and it's easier to get there as a programmer than in most other fields. There's plenty of one or two-man operations out there.

Especially with the internet, the costs are almost nothing, but your time.

Would love to know a few so I can (maybe) start on a new project...

Great place to start: https://www.indiehackers.com/businesses

This is a great place to start: https://levels.io/12-startups-12-months/

... or start your own

It also requires a degree of knowing your worth, asking more than your worth, doing insane amounts of work and being very good at pricing and marketing yourself.

I personally don't care that much about money, so I tend to work for a year or two and then take a year off:

http://khanism.org/perspective/minimalism/

Unlike a lot of other careers, this isn't as difficult to do in software, and you end up working for better companies who care less about having a warm body that will stay there forever over having someone who can think creatively.

"A man can never drink his fill by waiting in line for the tap" -- From Breaking Bad