My plan was to start consulting on my own, get the deal flow running, bootstrap the consulting company and offload my work to the new guys with time. Then I would use the profits from the consulting company to fund my own startup(s) OR do some angel investing PG style.
But then while I have been slowly probing and negotiating some odd 7 gigs, on my third actual meeting I turned a potential customer into a co-founder and we're currently working on the project he wanted to hire me for.
By September we will see if the project takes off. If not - I will have spent my nest-egg by then, find a Job (for a year or so), save as much as I can and start out with the original plan again.
Why do I like this plan so much? For one I have similar view of capital as Niccollo Macchiavelli had of soldiers - I would rather fail with my own than succeed with borrowed money. The reason being that here in central Europe - typical "angel" investor expects a 50%+ share in your company for any money they commit. And if I wanted a boss I would keep my original job.