"Also worth noting, equity in freelance/consulting companies is relatively worthless" - Generally true, but not entirely true. Accenture, Capgemini etc are all

"Also worth noting, equity in freelance/consulting companies is relatively worthless" - Generally true, but not entirely true. Accenture, Capgemini etc are all consultancies/contracting type business, yet their equity is worth something. However it took decades to build these companies, because of the scaling problem. Other agencies/consultancies/ may buy other agencies/consultancies because client lists, and reputation and so on. However there tons, and tons of agency type business that never get anywhere.