[pwr]

I'm really interested in how you managed to start out on yourself. Care to share your story?

When I was 19 I managed to get a developer job at a medium-sized german dating site. I'm 22 now, still working on the said dating site, so my experience is pretty niche and limited and so are my connections. I'm actually pretty strong programming-wise (PHP and JavaScript professionally and Clojure(Script) and Go on the side.) But I completely lack any experience with business and design other than reading HN and blogs.

My goal is to get into freelancing/consulting the way patio11 describes it: make thing-X which will make/safe client-Y Z-amount-of-money. The challenge for me is:

- how to get experience in making thing-X without having the connections to get client-Y

- how to get client-Y without having the experience in making thing-X

[danenania]

What worked for me is simply learning as much as I could and keeping an eye out for opportunities to turn pure tech engagements into more business-focused and value-based projects. Once you start looking, you realize they are plentiful. Even just being a good programmer who can evaluate features and prioritize based on business value puts you way way way ahead. If you're reading a lot of patio's writing, you're probably on the right track. It can take some time to make the transition, but it will happen if you keep at it.

[monort]

If you don't have non-compete clause, you should try to use your niche experience to build your own dating service.