I would definitely have to agree on this. As much as I am open to the possible "lifestyle business" examples given, I would still think about scaling the business to a level similar to SAS if given the opportunity (I applaud them for recently being the #1 company to work for). And by the time the exit is done, I should hopefully have the experience and fiduciary resources to start another company.

I believe you, but its major failure is not looking at the problem from the viewpoint of investors and risk. Sure, $500K for "several million dollars in dividends" sounds great, but how many $500K investments will you have to make to get such payouts and what's your opportunity cost in meantime?

A “lifestyle business” might be great for a lifestyle investor---and there are those, just not very many, especially ones who can put up $500K or 1/10th or 1/20th in a syndication.