Don't put your eggs in one basket. Having one source of income that can be easily cut off is like driving a car without seat-belts or airbags. It's an illusion, yes, perpetuated by those who benefit from it.

I've worked with a company like that and it was an incredibly depressive experience (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2374271). Don't be naive, people, it's in business's best interest to keep you as close to a slave as possible, while cutting off the rest of your options by making you stay in the office for as long as possible for as little of a pay as possible.

You think your boss is your friend and likes you, and cuddles you but in reality he is an actor; it's his job to create that illusion, and he gets paid very well for playing the role properly. I do not see how this is much different from scam-artists.