[gyardley]

This is also a classic bigger-company horror story -- when the developers who said "this isn't so hard, we can do it ourselves" start working on it and run into all the tiny little gotchas that aren't evident in due diligence.

Maybe I've just been exposed to a weird sample, but I've heard 'we can do it ourselves' at least a half-dozen times over my career and not once has anyone actually done it themselves.

[mkramlich]

That suggests what might be a good rule of thumb for distinguishing a rock star programmer from the other kind. The rock star says they can do it, and mean it. Then they do it. Done.

[j_baker]

...or the rockstar says they can't do it, and mean it. Then they don't do it. Not done.

[tbsdy]

Or the rockstar programmer says it can't be done, then he does it. And the big company looks at it and ignores it.