Ask HN: What Are the Best Routes for Senior Full-Stack Software Engineers?

As things have changed in the last 5-10 years, I'm wondering what's generally considered to be the best route to take (job-wise) these days. That is, if an Engineer had total freedom/choice, then which would ideally be chosen (and which second, etc)? Consulting (Freelance, TopTal, etc)? Telecommuting / Remote Working? 9-5 at a startup? 9-5 at a mid-sized company? 9-5 at a large corporation? Founding a startup? Something else?