I started my start-up 4 years ago at 31 and ran out of cash at 34, where I got my first coding job. I had 3 years of hobbyist experience and was able to find a gig. I dont think age has anything to do with it.

To land my first gig I found job postings on craiglists or wherever then searched company on facebook to see if any of my friends was connected to an employee at X company. This landed me a few interviews pretty quickly. Now I indeed I did start at a low level salary, but it has quickly increased. IF this is indeed true ... good luck; think outside the box like this post to help you get your 1st gig!

One thing I found, when I was in a similar situation, is that people with "nontraditional" CV's are rebuffed in a somewhat rougher manner than usual applicants. This can be pretty discouraging. This was decades ago for me, so I was doing a lot of phone calls as a part of my job search. It can be a bit brutal.

oh ... well doing the whole Facebook thing - finding a mutual connection between me and the employer really helped a lot. Within a few days after using this method I landed interviews and a few different offers. Also, I did have a portfolio of different designs I built for my start-up as well two other sites I built.