Not just here, but industry-wide. The x10 figure comes from studies. Brooks talks about them (mythical man-month), and I think Peopleware mentions some. The question then turns to what these studies are actually measuring...
But that's just for programming. When you get into the application of software - unmet needs - you can easily get x100 or far far higher. This is because the value of software is more closely related to the need it meets (that exists in users) rather than any quality of the software (that exists in code).
But that's just for programming. When you get into the application of software - unmet needs - you can easily get x100 or far far higher. This is because the value of software is more closely related to the need it meets (that exists in users) rather than any quality of the software (that exists in code).