I think it's pretty obvious that if Patrick wanted to optimize for more money he definitely could have by focusing on consulting instead of AR.
Also he owns Appointment Reminder and he didn't count the appreciation of that asset. Lets assume the total profit for AR went from 100k to 135k. Now lets make the assumption that it is valued at a 5x multiple, this means that he increased his net worth by 175k. Thus his total "profits" for the year would be under estimated by 175k.
This is an important point. You cannot directly compare salary to business income. The day you quit your $150,000/year dev job is the day you income hits zero. Compare that to BCC that he effectively quit four years ago.
2007 $6,200 / 100 hours / $60/hour
2008 $10,700 / ?? hours /
2009 $18,525 / 130 hours / $125~$150/hour
2010 $25,904 / 115 hours / $200~250/hour
2011 $25,000 / 35 hours / $700/hour
2012 $38,598 / 38 hours / $1,000/hour
2013 $23,000 / 23 hours / $1,000/hour
2014 $20,000 / 5 hours / $4,000/hour
Rough total is $170,000 from 550 hours of effort. Lets assume it ticks over for a few more years. You've basically earnt quarter of a million from equivalent of 3 or 4 months effort.
Also he owns Appointment Reminder and he didn't count the appreciation of that asset. Lets assume the total profit for AR went from 100k to 135k. Now lets make the assumption that it is valued at a 5x multiple, this means that he increased his net worth by 175k. Thus his total "profits" for the year would be under estimated by 175k.