Choosing a Developer: How to Get it Right the 1st Time!
I started by posting a local (Philadelphia) advertisement to Craigslist and also by going to oDesk and posting an advertisement looking for an iPhone developer. My ad on Craigslist was straightforward and I offered both a salary while in development but also a portion of the returns. I got some good feedback and received inquiries from individuals, local iPhone development companies but also many international development firms. Initially I was interested in finding something more like a partner with technical skills to work with and share the return. This quickly proved to not be an option.
I still don’t think it is a bad deal to offer a developer: 1) an application idea, 2) a salary, 3) a flexible schedule, and 4) a portion of the returns. I wasn’t able to find anyone experienced, however, with enough interest and skill to really dive in to the project. While I am sure this is a symptom of the high demand for iPhone developers and my lack of being able to find / convince anyone locally (I only posted on Craigslist so wasn’t exactly scouring the city), it was still surprising how few serious inquiries I received. Let me just add, as someone who is learning the iPhone SDK, I was amazed at how little most developers who reached out to me knew about developing with the iPhone SDK.
