An employer is an abstraction layer that removes concerns outside one's area of expertise--someone in product development doesn't need to worry about getting press coverage or calculating payroll. Like any abstraction layer, it has costs and benefits. It can be appropriate or inappropriate, depending on your needs.
Employees, freelancers, and "makers" can all work on product, and can all deal with customers. Don't try to tell me that a carpenter employed by a company doesn't "make" product.
Also, this graph's comparisons don't work. A start-up "makes" products, but an employee doesn't "make" a job. It's nonsensical.
But an employee tends to be paid for performing tasks through an abstraction layer. They may make products but the boss does not buy the product off of them, it buys their service.
Employees, freelancers, and "makers" can all work on product, and can all deal with customers. Don't try to tell me that a carpenter employed by a company doesn't "make" product.
Also, this graph's comparisons don't work. A start-up "makes" products, but an employee doesn't "make" a job. It's nonsensical.