App Developer Wanted

[Straga]

Hi everyone

My mate and I have an idea for an app which we believe would really be a game-changer, and we would like to have it brought to life. Thus we are looking for a talented app developer. Naturally I cannot share too much information regarding the app, other than it will be a social media driven app with quite a few unique features which should require some skill to implement.

At this point we cannot offer any real compensation, other than shares. We feel, however, that this may be much more profitable in the very likely situation that the app does grow to become a massive success. Taking, for example, Facebook, Uber or Snapchat. A 10% stake in either one of those startups would've yielded millions of dollars in return.

Any advice would also be massively appreciated, as I've gathered that quite a lot of Carbonites seem to be app developers. Since there are so many facets to take into consideration, any guidance would really be appreciated. Please don't hesitate to send me a PM either, guys.

Cheers

Position Available: App Developer.
Number of Positions: 1.
Employment type: Freelance.
Salary: As the app is only an idea at this point and we don't exactly have heaps of cash to spare, we can offer you shares of the app.
Perks: None at the moment.
Starting Date: ASAP.
Location: As it is a freelance position, you would effectively be able to work from where you want to.
Job Description/Requirements: Development of app and all inclusive features, some of which are quite complex, and also integration with both Apple App Store & Google Play Store.
Company website: N.A

 

[intergral]

OMG ! I would love to spend my life bringing your app to life

Please PM me

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[Razia]

Hi Straga, what will you be bringing to the table?

Since the dev that does this will be doing 100% of the work and your "idea" is your only contributing point at this stage.

 

[PHalanKS]

I'd be happy to do it and give you and your mate 10%.

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[LilDudeFrmAcrossTheStreet]

Since you want advice, I can give my two cents as a senior software engineer.

Unless you're recruiting a junior, who has no experience in the field, experienced developers know how much they're overlooked in the industry. In most instances where the company succeeds because of an idea, the people who made the dream come to life turn into replaceable numbers. They're the guys who make the product. The oaks who spent sleepless nights solving problems. The last thing a dev wants to hear is a percentage of a number that might not exist.

If you want someone, then you need to make it worth their while and compensate for the labor. As several hours are spent to make your idea a reality. It also ensures that if you decide to scrap the project (which happens with many startups), then at least it was not a complete waste of their time.

There are dev houses and private dev contractors but they all require a contract to be drawn up and signed, stipulating an hourly rate. You would then get invoiced accordingly. That's all to ensure that there is no risk in the event that you're in doubt and want to pull out

 

[FluffyBlueCow]

Hi, there are some books you need to read before taking on any idea.
Eric Reis - The lean startup.
Al Reis and Jack Trout - 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing.
Tim Ferris - All of his podcasts.

The problem you have here is that the time and money spent on product development has to be mirrored in marketing. So when you state that you have no budget for development, I assume there's zero for marketing too.
Even MySpace had a genius marketing plan and spent a lot of money and time to get the ball rolling. (And they didn't have nearly the steep competition that you guys will have). So if you already have no money, then you'll have to get very bold and creative to overcome this side of it.

This whole idea that TV keeps pushing about "build it in your garage and magic will happen".. it doesn't work that way. Even with a great idea, it is hard. You have to knock on a lot of doors and need a lot of help to get it running. The lady from Bumble (which is a great idea) faced over 300 rejections before she got a yes. Most days it was 3 rejections before breakfast. That side of it hurts a lot. You need to be ready for that.. the grind.

By all means do it. But do the homework as well. Know that it will be one of the hardest things you've ever done, but what you gain from it is worth while. (And I'm not talking about the money)

Some things to get you started...
Dreamweaver. (Stop laughing.. ) So you hand sketch your app, as much as you can, pop it into dreamweaver and use their poly-hyperlink thing to create a click-through app in your browser. This will already give you a decent feel and vision for how it works.
And then you have as many people as you can just use it. Take it to them and watch them carefully.. watch where their hands go, what their intuition is.
Then go home and modify your app.

Actual prototype... Well, outsystems offer a decent platform. It's not too hard to learn. But you'll have to judge for yourself where the limitation are (I don't know what your app does). You can also try Unreal or Unity if you need something more powerful. All 3 of these can with reasonable simplicity get you a prototype.

Then there's the proper tools for the job, they're all painstaking to use and learn, but can be done.
But a quick v.1.0 that kinda works is better than spending many many months building the same thing in a more difficult tool.
v.1.0 will be wrong, there's no sense in building a bad prototype perfectly (All prototypes are bad at first).

Rather rapidly build the first version, remembering that you can always code a new one in a better framework later. Because the second that v.1.0 is live, you'll start building v.2.0.

I hope this helps!

 

[PHalanKS]

I'd be happy to do it and give you and your mate 10%.

Can't believe I haven't heard back after offering someone potentially millions of dollars. Taking, for example, Facebook, Uber or Snapchat. A 10% stake in either one of those startups would've yielded millions of dollars in return...

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[Straga]

Hi guys

Thank you very much for all your comments and advice thus far, I promise I'll get back to each and every one of you individually in due time.

Due to other work obligations we haven't been able to give our app ambitions the attention it requires, so please bear with us.

Cheers