> IMO, the biggest problem is software startups unwillingness to hire other types of engineers. As someone who co-started (and later sold) a small privately fu

> IMO, the biggest problem is software startups unwillingness to hire other types of engineers. As someone who co-started (and later sold) a small privately funded company doing embedded software development about 15 years ago I think I can give some insight. We were a 3-person startup, all with a software background. Most we knew was how to use a multimeter and solder a jtag or DB9 connector, which we also needed on a regular basis - but that was about the extent of our knowledge. One of our very early projects however involved requiring some custom hardware. So we started looking for electrical engineers, and quickly found out we were absolutely clueless about how to interview or evaluate these people. With one guy we interviewed it 'clicked' - and after talking to him, we quickly realized we knew nothing about hardware design, production and everything involved. We would have hired him, but he was very honest about thinking that would be a bad idea and rejected our offer. Looking back, he was absolutely right. You don't just need electrical engineers, you need people with experience in production, hw testing and following up on all those things. We ended up outsourcing the hardware design and production to another company, and actually recommended them the guy we found, who ended doing most of the design for our project. Stick to what you know best, if you're small and need hardware designed, try to find a company that can do this and believes in what you're trying to achieve. It's easy to lose focus when you suddenly have to learn a bunch of new things - which includes failing a lot, something you can't afford in a startup.