In my very humble experience, I can't answer this scientifically, but I have known engineers that can be 1000% more productive than others. So if you have 100K$

In my very humble experience, I can't answer this scientifically, but I have known engineers that can be 1000% more productive than others. So if you have 100K$ to spend, looking for that top engineer is not just marginally better than the average one, it can be exponential. and this can determine the success of your business. I'm not talking about "smartest" or "knows the most technologies" or "has most stars on his github project", no I'm talking about people who can get things done, solve problems on their own, use the right tools for the right job, test their code, and have a good design. Surprisingly, it's so hard to find. Sometimes experience helps, but not always, sometimes pure IQ helps, but it's not a test of intelligence, it's a test of a mixture of qualities that gets you working software, consistently, with minimal bugs, without premature optimization, and code that doesn't look like an Italian favorite dish.