You need to find mentors in person. Working for a startup isn't going to teach you how the design industry works; it'll teach you what that one startup thinks

You need to find mentors in person. Working for a startup isn't going to teach you how the design industry works; it'll teach you what that one startup thinks a designer should do. I talked with a startup recently who thought they needed "a designer." It turned out they really needed like five different kinds of designers: an illustrator, a UI artist, a gameplay designer, a game systems designer, and a user experience or interaction designer. If you're interested in becoming a professional product designer, or in doing any sort of design work for startups, there are professional organizations which can help, indirectly. Your local IxDA, UXPA (nee UPA), and AIGA meetups will be good places to find professional designers (freelance, agency and in-house) whom you can ask to mentor you. There's probably also local technical "co-founders wanted", Hacker News, and technical freelancers meetups, where you can find local peers in need of design help. In all cases, talking with someone in person is going to produce better work and give you a better feel for the interpersonal relationships required than doing things over email or Skype.