I'd say it's not just about risk tolerance but also deciding what pieces to "outsource" in your daily job. When you're running your own firm (even one person),

I'd say it's not just about risk tolerance but also deciding what pieces to "outsource" in your daily job. When you're running your own firm (even one person), you are in charge of catching billable work, doing the billable work, billing the work, filing the taxes, etc, etc. If you add anyone else, the non-billable efforts get even bigger. I ran my own firm for ~7 years and had a team of 8 at one point. Hunting the next project just got exhausting and I never got to build things. If you work for another firm - consultancy or product - the vast majority is handed off to other people who are probably better at (or at least focused on) many of those things. Yes, you make less money but you're "paying" to have all those things done for you.