[pastacacioepepe]

Approx 1 year ago I did part of the interview process to freelance on toptal, but I dropped as I've found a better opportunity. At the time the lowest rate you could find for a developer was $70/h. In constrast on upwork I see developers for as low as $15/h. Can't tell if you'd get $150 but it's definitely possible to get $100+.

[throwaway81523]

That doesn't sound promising at all. Hourly rate for consulting should be around 2x your hourly earnings as a full time employee, so if you were getting $300K at a FAANG you should get $300/hour as a consultant. Even if you just go by your base salary (maybe your $300K FAANG compensation is $200K salary and $100K other stuff) you're still at $200/hour. There is another agency whose name I've forgotten that specializes in placing ex-FAANGsters and its rates do get up in that range.