My first freelance gig was a friend whose startup just came out of a YC co-hort and needed UI/front-end help (I had just left the company both of us had worked

My first freelance gig was a friend whose startup just came out of a YC co-hort and needed UI/front-end help (I had just left the company both of us had worked together at at one point). He already knew what I was capable of so there wasn’t much marketing/selling involved. That came after, through local networking and finding odd projects on Dribbble and hiring websites that had a section for remote designers. I had kept my main site sparse—and still do—so I had an easier time to drive initial conversation towards business goals instead of pixels and colours.