That is why Honda is a bigger company than Mercedes. They do decent quality (Hondas cost more than Kias), but at scale.

I worked for a "Mercedes-level" photographic equipment company for years. People were often quite surprised, when I told them the size of the company. It was like Roadhouse "I thought you'd be bigger."

Our prototypes were incredibly expensive. A $2,000 (retail) body prototype would be insured at half a million bucks.

I just find, in my experience, managers expect Mercedes-level quality, for Kia (not even Honda) prices, and (if you are lucky) mature Honda assembly line development speed.

That can lead to real Jurassic-scale disasters. If you want that level of quality, you need to plan for it.

I'm working on the app that I'm doing, because I was helping a friend of mine evaluate contractors for his dream.

The promises they made were absurd. After a couple of these, I just said "Screw it. I'll do it for you."

He'll be getting Mercedes quality, but he'll need to wait a bit longer for it. I am pretty good at doing damn good; damn fast.

But he also won't be paying a dime for it, so I think he's good with that.