Nah, that'd imply they think about this objectively. Most companies simply don't. Most time this "opportunity cost" is then spent on useless hacky features tha

Nah, that'd imply they think about this objectively. Most companies simply don't. Most time this "opportunity cost" is then spent on useless hacky features that are never used and forgotten right after release (redesign anyone?). Of course there are exceptions to all of these, but IME the majority of companies are either focusing on pennies or ignoring it completely. Not sure why you don't see balanced approaches more often. Maybe this will change with less VC money flying around.