How does a new grad with a vast portfolio in hardware design and low-level programming projects get accepted for a software developer role at a startup? It's hard to convince a startup when what they value most are past projects, especially those related to higher level software dev, no?
Why are you restricting your scope to startups? Larger companies can afford a longer onboarding/training period, and can be less risk-averse when it comes to unproven candidates with potential.<p>Spend 1-2 years at a big company, and then it might be easier to apply to startups.