Consulting and startup can be equally pleasing in my opinion (I've done both). It's just that if you do consulting but get caught in the golden handcuffs, then

Consulting and startup can be equally pleasing in my opinion (I've done both). It's just that if you do consulting but get caught in the golden handcuffs, then you're only earning for the present and not the future. On the other hand, if like me you keep your previous lifestyle even after raising your income, then you can also build for the future as a consultant. EDIT: but like james commented, you only go so far as scaling yourself as a consultant, whereas you can definitely scale out as a company/startup.