Starting a boutique M&A Advisory firm vs starting an independent sponsor

All - I'm at a career crossroads and seriously contemplating my next move.  I'm currently a Managing Director at a boutique lower middle market investment bank doing sell side M&A.  I'm a bit disenfranchised with investment banking since it's very overcrowded and everyone has the same pitch and value prop.  I've been seriously considering moving to the buy sideand love the independence sponsor model.  I'm an entrepreneur at heart and my next move would be to either launch a boutique M&A advisory firm or start an independent sponsor with another partner from a private equity background.  Feels like the path to starting my own an M&A advisory firm is a more straightforward one and a little bit less risky but the upside is lower.   The independent sponsor route is very  attractive offering a lot more upside but seemingly more risk.  I would love to get the perspective of others on this site who have some experience, opinions and insight and have worked on either side or ideally both sides of the fence. There  are some super sharp people on here with some great perspective and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.