Ask HN: How to get first clients for Data Science consultancy

Hi, A few of my friends (and myself included) have experience in different areas of Data Science - Machine Learning, Data Analysis, NLP, Visualization, Hadoop, etc. So we are thinking of opening a company and do freelancing/consulting work in the area of AI/ML/Data Science.

Any suggestions where we should look for work and how should we go about getting our first clients? I understand that there are freelancing sites but not sure if they have good work or if they are a good place to start.