This. You aren’t happy and you can’t make your boss happy. Accept that it was a mistake, “admit” that it was your fault for not understanding what they wanted, and go your separate ways. Don’t try to get a “dig” in on your way out, just leave on a good terms as you can.

I agree. Especially when the boss starts talking about "trust" and not listening to your proposals. Getting blamed for other people's decisions when you've already warned about the consequences is a flag that you've already lost the battle. Some people just can't be reasoned with.

Granted, saying leave is easy to do but the OP might not be able to due to their financial situation or other circumstances. So maybe leaving is not the right option but I don't believe this relationship can be salvaged so checking out(either mentally or physically) is the only way forward, as I see it.

Alternatively, get ready to leave.

But before you do, push back against the founder. The next time he pushes directly to master, immediately revert the commit, but cherry-pick it over to a development or staging branch instead. Then notify him what you've done and why (including that you're trying to prevent breaking changes being made on master, like happened previously).

How the founder responds to this will determine whether you leave, or whether you stay a bit longer and perhaps gain the founder's trust. But still expect you'll have to leave. :/