I agree with you with a caveat. Everything you say is absolutely true, but remember that many startups are highly focused on conserving cash, and moreso than h

I agree with you with a caveat. Everything you say is absolutely true, but remember that many startups are highly focused on conserving cash, and moreso than hacker time. The retail price (I know discounts can be negotiated, but for a point of reference...) for MS SQL Server Standard edition is $5000, enterprise edition is $25000. I have never had to research Oracle prices but I understand they run even higher. I worked as an MS SQL Server DBA for a while for a mid-sized company, and I wrote and employed some "ugly hacks" to emulate some of the Enterprise features because management at the time was unwilling/unable to pay for Enterprise Edition.