[karthikb]

> one should also keep in mind that people (especially engineers) are extremely biased and tend to drastically overestimate the cost of mistakes

I've found the opposite to be true, especially with engineers moving from pure software to founding companies in regulated industries such as aerospace or medical devices.

[hbrn]

Good point, though I'd say the major factor is dealing with hardware, not necessarily being regulated. You can't just push a hotfix to a million of on-premise devices with one click.