[mikeyur]

Learn on someone else's dime. Find a job at a company that has an interesting product, try to pick the smallest company possible. You'll learn a lot of stuff, work on something that kinda/sorta interests you, meet new people (possible co-founders, investors) and get a paycheck to do it.

I'm a marketing guy and I got my start in a jr marketing position at a small company (~40 employees). I got to play around with their money and resources to build up my own skill set. I use those skills now on my own projects and client work, and I picked up a ton of tips on things like running a business/hiring/sales techniques/etc. I also met a ton of awesome people, some of which I'm still really good friends with.

Go in with an open mind and try it out for at least a couple months, if you really don't like it then you can always leave and find another place or get to work on your own idea. P.S. Don't burn bridges, ALWAYS bites you in the ass (had to learn the hard way).