Well, we are a startup, we've only been here for 2 years and our product is still in alpha. But we are already profitable and sustainable, and have been for a w

Well, we are a startup, we've only been here for 2 years and our product is still in alpha. But we are already profitable and sustainable, and have been for a while - that counts as viable in my book. We're going to have to come up with a definition of viable that disagrees with that if you want to argue it further. Our planning accounts for the bus factor. It'd be bad, but not unrecoverable. And because our software is entirely open source, it wouldn't even be the end of the world for our customers. And no, our other employee does not have a stake in the company, other than a personal one. Our motivations are not based on future earning potential, some future "cashing in" moment, but on being able to do what we enjoy full-time. Either of us could (and have) worked for more, much more, but we're comfortable and happy with what we're doing. The business is basically a way for us to be comfortable and happy with our work first, and a profit vehicle second. The fact that this is unusual, and makes you raise your eyebrows and question the viability of the whole affair, is disappointing to me. We believe that this is the socially responsible way to start a business, and that it should be more normalized in the tech business community. That our business is viable is a mathematical fact.