What a founder worth $70 million told me about freedom
A construction founder with a net worth of $70 million told me he couldn't take a one-month road trip with his family. He had built something most people would envy and was actively designing his way out of it. This is about what that conversation changed in how I think about building.
Last week I had a 30-minute call with a CEO from the US who’s been in business for over 20 years.
He has an estimated net worth of USD 70 million. And honestly, it blew my mind.
He was born and raised in the US, and due to the nature of his business (construction), he’s tied to a specific place, city, and location.
While we were chatting, he started telling me about a road trip he was planning with his daughters. His excitement was contagious.
I swear, the way he smiled and spoke about the route, the stops, the time they’d spend together—I didn’t want to interrupt him for even a second.
So I asked, naturally:
You seem so excited. It’s clear you love this. Why don’t you do it more often?
He looked at me and said:
What you see from the outside Fran, is that I have a big business. Properties. Employees. Payroll. Daily fires. Stuff I can’t just walk away from.
The founderI would love to have the freedom of someone like you. You can work from anywhere, travel the world, take your laptop and go. I have $70M net worth… and yet, I can’t take a one-month road trip with my wife and daughter. That’s not freedom.
The founderAnd I told him:
You know most people, including myself, would love to be in your shoes. Have a big company. Be ‘successful’. Build something big. Be you.
He smiled and replied:
I get it. In my 20s, I thought that’s what I wanted too. Now, I’m designing a new life. I’m working on a new project that allows me to go remote. I’m hiring a GM to run this thing. I don’t want to deal with operations anymore. I want to travel the world with my family. That’s the goal now.
The founderThen he said something that stuck with me:
Life’s short. Don’t get caught up in the numbers. They only matter if you’ve built a life that actually means something. I’m in a rat race, and I want out. Just think about it.
I’ve been thinking about it ever since.
It was a real fucking conversation. Not a podcast clip. Not a quote on LinkedIn. Not some ‘billionaire advice’ from Twitter.
It was a guy I admire—someone who built an empire—telling me the truth behind the curtain.
How you make your money is more important than how much you make.
Gary VaynerchukWe can make billions screwing the planet, hurting people, scaling nonsense, raising capital for stuff we don’t even believe in.
Or maybe we make less, but we do it with integrity. With values. With a clean conscience.
More than how much. More than how fast. More than who claps for us.
What matters—at least to me—is knowing I can sleep at night, look in the mirror, and not feel like I’m bullshitting myself.
That freedom we all chase doesn’t come with a net worth.
It comes with design. With decisions. With courage.
And sometimes, the courage isn’t to build something big—it’s to step away from it.
To say “enough”, before it’s too late. To look at your daughter in the backseat of a van on a random Tuesday and say: “We made it.”
Because if we’re not building for that—what the fuck are we doing it for?
EVERYTHING IS A NARRATIVE.