I concur - I would highly recommend taking a paying day job and working furiously on side projects, and parlaying that into an employment opportunity - I would also recommend looking at other skilled positions at an internet startup like data analysis, marketing, SEM, etc. You can learn those skills relatively quickly tbh especially if you are someone who programs. It will probably seems relatively straightforward to learn. Many companies are looking for passionate individuals who are technically savvy.

And do your research before job interviews. Understand the ins and outs of the company, their competition. I turn down people who I can tell haven't checked out our website let alone the industry prior to applying.

in that case you might consider working part-time - i'm not sure what to suggest, a job where you'll meet people your own age, somewhere corporate, or a small business, with a small business you might get a chance to flex your computer chops and perhaps progress that way - into tech support for instance and perhaps further from there

someone i know worked in a general store in his teens, he's been running his own cafe business for 20 years now - working in the store taught him almost everything he needed to know to run a cafe.