From reading your post, my first thought is, "stop panicking, employers smell desperation from miles away". Stop worrying about it for a second, realize what you have to offer, and don't throw yourself out there as "please! I'll do anything!"
What I would recommend, is that you join ODesk, ELance, or one of the many other "let's play consultant" websites. Yes you'll be competing with the Bangladeshis but actually the good ones want big salaries too so you aren't competing against too much. What I would do, is when you submit a bid, write in something like "I'm only doing this to enhance my portfolio -- can I reserve the right to show this to future employers?" and if they say yes, you have something to show! If they say no, double your asking price, or at least bring it up to standard value, and if standard value doesn't scare them away, you get moneys!
Seriously, there are threads on both HN and reddit about people who have made serious money on those sites, with piles of advice about which jobs to take and stay away from. Using whatever portfolio you build up, take this into your resume.
And if you take the advice of others here, list your startup as "self employed", as well as the consultant time, odds are future employers won't even look at your code (and HR wouldn't know what to make of it anyway).
There is a lot of other great advice here too. Best of luck.
What I would recommend, is that you join ODesk, ELance, or one of the many other "let's play consultant" websites. Yes you'll be competing with the Bangladeshis but actually the good ones want big salaries too so you aren't competing against too much. What I would do, is when you submit a bid, write in something like "I'm only doing this to enhance my portfolio -- can I reserve the right to show this to future employers?" and if they say yes, you have something to show! If they say no, double your asking price, or at least bring it up to standard value, and if standard value doesn't scare them away, you get moneys!
Seriously, there are threads on both HN and reddit about people who have made serious money on those sites, with piles of advice about which jobs to take and stay away from. Using whatever portfolio you build up, take this into your resume.
And if you take the advice of others here, list your startup as "self employed", as well as the consultant time, odds are future employers won't even look at your code (and HR wouldn't know what to make of it anyway).
There is a lot of other great advice here too. Best of luck.