Ask HN: How much did it cost to build Google+ from concept thru production?

There's no way.

Craaaaaaaazy. 550 million? I guess that would be the cost if you included the cost of developing of all Google software that is associated with Google+.

Am I the only one thinking that other than Hangouts Google+ has actually not been a capital heavy project executed by a relatively small team?

550m would put it at around 3000 man years which seems a tad high.

3000 man years is 100 people working for 30 years! Or 100 people working for 3 years!

Also 550m equated to 3000 man years includes hardware costs or not?

Are you sure you didn't confuse it with Yelp's refusal of $550m buyout or social network MySpace sale that created a loss of $550m?