Congratulations! I made a similar jump about 20 months ago. My only advice to you is to keep doing the freelance gig thing on the side, as I see you are doing

Congratulations! I made a similar jump about 20 months ago. My only advice to you is to keep doing the freelance gig thing on the side, as I see you are doing based on your comments. The things I've learned about surviving: 1) As one commenter said, 6 months is basically no time at all. It will FLY by. Launching your side project to a state where you are comfortable with the project or can at least try it out in the market will take about 6 months. 2) For Freelance gigs - People will only pay you for what you're good at and you have experience in. It's no different than finding a real job. No one will pay you for what you think you are good at, if you don't have proven experience in it. This is good to know if you get in a money crunch. Always go back to your real strengths and the money will follow. 3) Always plan for Plan B. Build your professional network weekly if not daily in the industry where companies are willing to hire you if this venture doesn't work out for you. 4) It will take you at least 3 months to find a job once you start looking, assuming you have the right marketable skills. It shouldn't take that long, but it does. Plan accordingly. 5) You will need help about 3 months from now. You'll be lost as you try to find yourself. Don't be afraid to ask someone for guidance. You could be asking someone you met in Austin or someone you met recently. You never know. 6) Start a personal / professional mailing list. Allow people to have an insight into what you are doing. People like this kind of stuff. This allows you to stay in touch with lots of people fairly easily. 7) You never know. Jason fried wrote an inc article I believe about how he ended up writing for inc through a series of events & connections. Keep an open mind as I think you are doing now, and keep your relationships up to date.