Remember that consulting is when you get paid by the hour, whereas software is where you get paid long after you have written the code. The former should never be the goal, only the means to reach the latter.
Contracting is when you get paid by the hour. Consulting means a lot of different things.
Running a company and building and grooming a team is more than just launching a product and hoping. Products come and go. Protect your company --- even if it means (gasp!) consulting for a bit --- and you'll get as many shots as you want at doing products. Pin your hopes to one longshot product, and you'll end up a wage slave.
