Yes the risks are not that high, but neither are the rewards. Basically you choose to do something (marketing, sales, dealing with bad clients) over something e

Yes the risks are not that high, but neither are the rewards. Basically you choose to do something (marketing, sales, dealing with bad clients) over something else (meetings, corporate bullshit, dealing with bad managers). Maybe you get more financial upside on average (especially if you're good at marketing/sales) for slightly less security/peace of mind (as employee if you get sick, or have a child, you still get a salary; you can have paid vacations, etc). Sure, freelancer/consultant is a valid path, but only if you're good at (and enjoy) marketing & sales. Otherwise - you can get lucky to work for a startup that IPOs (or a company whose shares increase dramatically) and end up earning a lot more as salaried.