Author here. My background wasn't firmware or embedded systems, more databases, mobile and server software. I found building firmware extremely difficult, the

Author here. My background wasn't firmware or embedded systems, more databases, mobile and server software. I found building firmware extremely difficult, the rest of the system was well within my range of experience. The rest of the time I was solely responsible for organising field trials, getting customers, finding money, and still finding the time to build the software stack. This probably doesn't come through clearly in the post.