Ask HN: How hard for a SW guy to find funding for a HW idea?

Let's say a quite experienced (OS and API level) SW guy has an idea that he wants to launch as a biz, but the idea is focused more heavily on HW (say acceleration of some SW tasks using FPGAs).<p>I'm wondering how much of an obstacle the background mismatch would be when looking for funding.<p>Assume that before going to the potential investors, the SW guy does build a proof of concept prototype with the HW, but with many physical design considerations remaining to be addressed for a final product.<p>Also assume that the best co-founder candidates he can find are of similar backgrounds.<p>I'd appreciate any thoughts on the difficulties they might face being taken seriously by the investors (aside from the fact that HW ideas are a much harder sell), and whether some of the skepticism can be overcome.<p>I don't have a <i>very</i> specific idea at the moment, but I keepin coming quite close and see similar examples actually launched. So I'd like to know if I do converge on a feasible idea, should I invest time in it, or whether it'd be a pipe dream just because HW is a just different beast.<p>Thx