From my high horse...or perhaps between it and me.<p>The engineering that matters at a startup is driven by business concerns. A well organized codebase isn&#x27;t a product. Best practices revolve around making money or at least surviving.<p>Industry best practice in the hardware industry is selling hardware. A professional matches a budget and requirements to what can be done and what cannot be. The whole idea of being a professional is getting paid to apply expertise to the specific circumstances and not promote one&#x27;s trivial values. To put it another way, a professional turns down jobs that violate their non-negotiable values. They don&#x27;t take money and then impose them on the unwilling.<p>Experience will give you professional judgement. That will make you better.<p>Good luck.