I think you'll find similar parallels in a lot of different industries; people have the talent to either make something or market it. There's not a lot of crossover without more experience. In terms of getting games out there, obviously in the mobile market it's a little bit simpler, but not by much.
How difficult is it for start-ups to actually get published? In the one experience I had working for a small start-up—I actually did voice acting, ironically enough—it took them eight months to find a publisher to actually be able to get the game out there. By then the technology was somewhat dated.