I'm in a search cycle currently myself. I got involved with a startup that would periodically get funding, charged decent rates, but when one funding round did

I'm in a search cycle currently myself. I got involved with a startup that would periodically get funding, charged decent rates, but when one funding round didn't go through, I had to kick off a sales and marketing cycle. How'd you line up the first gig yourself? I had a referral from someone else.