If you start a startup based on a hardware gadget idea, you can do the initial design of both the hardware and the software and then as you grow you can farm out parts of the process. I am not suggesting you would build a whole gadget all by yourself, but rather that you can conceptualize and drill down into the initial stages of the design enough that you can get your company started with a hardware idea.

Of course we are assuming you are not scared oh hardware(chip) design and you have a background in software. So it would require someone comfortable with both software and hardware. A lot of the students studying Electrical Engineering take up jobs as software engineers. These kinds of people would fit the bill.