Good post, I myself have done it a few times.
The first bankroll I built from scratch was on Full Tilt Poker
From $0.00 to $700.00 ,then Black Friday happened and my money was gone.
Only people playing back then would understand how devastating it was to lose your whole bankroll without warning overnight.
Eventually thanks to PokerStars most of us got our money back but it took a while and in the meantime I had to start over, did get it up to about $50.00 before I got my money back From my FTP bankroll.
Anyway as the op says play as many free tournaments as you can all the experience you get can only help you later on.