ouch. this is why it's dangerous to read a pg essay on entrepreneurship when you're in college. He makes it look easy, and some kids just follow their dreams without building a support base first. Remember that for every guy like pg, there are 9 others just like him who went bankrupt. Coming out of college, you should always try to find a stable, legit job and try to build up a capital base. Get paid by someone else and develop a level of professional competency, build up your credit score and take out a loan and do something on the side, and only go solo once who you have some stable revenue. This is the way to do it, unless you come from money or are lucky.
So here's my steps to you for changing things around:
1) Completely revamp your resume, and to stop referring to yourself as unemployed. You were self-employed.
2) write down a list of all the competitors your startup had that are located nearby. Find out the phone numbers/emails to the higher ups in those companies through web searching.
3) phone or email those guys, and say that you are writing a freelance article about the industry. Say you want to interview them for their expertise (all guys love to have their ego's stroked: that's the way to get that introduction you want).
4) during the interview (preferably in person, or by phone), ask them some general questions about the industry, and mention that you had attempted to do a startup in the field but failed. Try to ask questions related to how their business succeeded, in order to compare and contrast with your own experiences. Ask them to give you advice on whether to pursue another startup in this field (even though you may have no intention of doing so) or look for a job in the industry.
Now at this point, it can go 1 of 2 ways. If you're lucky, the other person may see your interest for the field, and ask to see some of your work. If it's good, you will probably move to the top of the pile when a new hire is needed.
If that doesn't happen, then repeat as necessary with every other company.
That's a better bet than anything else out there, don't waste your time with the craigslist blackhole
So here's my steps to you for changing things around:
1) Completely revamp your resume, and to stop referring to yourself as unemployed. You were self-employed.
2) write down a list of all the competitors your startup had that are located nearby. Find out the phone numbers/emails to the higher ups in those companies through web searching.
3) phone or email those guys, and say that you are writing a freelance article about the industry. Say you want to interview them for their expertise (all guys love to have their ego's stroked: that's the way to get that introduction you want).
4) during the interview (preferably in person, or by phone), ask them some general questions about the industry, and mention that you had attempted to do a startup in the field but failed. Try to ask questions related to how their business succeeded, in order to compare and contrast with your own experiences. Ask them to give you advice on whether to pursue another startup in this field (even though you may have no intention of doing so) or look for a job in the industry.
Now at this point, it can go 1 of 2 ways. If you're lucky, the other person may see your interest for the field, and ask to see some of your work. If it's good, you will probably move to the top of the pile when a new hire is needed. If that doesn't happen, then repeat as necessary with every other company.
That's a better bet than anything else out there, don't waste your time with the craigslist blackhole