Second the interning for an agency part. I did research work for one and learned so much in terms of business development just by understanding their work flow, how they pitch to businesses and how they find new clients.
As an aside, see if local agencies around your area are hiring freelancers. Mine did and though they didn't get any benefits, pay was regular and substantial (our freelancers probably came in about three or four days a week depending on the project load).
I second your idea about "bonding with people who are already bonded with the idea".
For the longest time, one of the things on my bucket list was to learn/make a game (with no prior experience before). During the last three years, I've started/restarted on my own but to no avail.
Two months ago, I joined an incubator for new game-makers and just being around so many supportive mentors (and other newbies who were creating games) pushed me to actually focus in on an engine, focus in on one idea and actually make significant progress in making my first game. I'm now about 80% complete with my game.
Guess I just needed a little push, a little encouragement and some accountability to finish something I've started so many times before!
I love the visual progress from the first art to the latest one (on the Kickstarter campaign). I'm sure the backend side of things probably had even more progress than what we can see visually.
As an aside, see if local agencies around your area are hiring freelancers. Mine did and though they didn't get any benefits, pay was regular and substantial (our freelancers probably came in about three or four days a week depending on the project load).