

Ask HN: Software Development Opportunities on Craigslist - annoyed

What are your experiences with CL ads offering an idea in exchange for programming, especially iPhone and Android?
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Mankhool
Like everything else in life - it's variable. I'm an idea person who found a
highly qualified iPhone developer in the SF Bay Area, who was interested
enough in doing dev work for me part-time (he's a FT iPhone dev for a large
corp) that he only asked for $2500 plus 3% equity. I'm in Vancouver. I found
him on CL. Also, although IMO they mean nothing, he was happy to sign an NDA.
It was a good experience.

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lukev
Even a great idea is worth nothing compared with the work of implementing it.
And my guess would be that the ideas you'd find on craigslist are more along
the lines of "build a twitter clone only MORE SO" than any genuine insights.

Even if you do think the idea is amazing, only engage in such a deal if you
get to keep 90% of profits. Development work requires hundreds of man hours.
Ideas can come while in the shower.

It's the difference between "Dude, I should learn to play the guitar" and
practicing an hour a day for five years.

~~~
annoyed
Since most, if not all of the CL "opportunities" involve NDAs I was wondering
what are some positive/negative things developers have experienced. I was
hoping to gain some insight on how to approach such dealings and what to
avoid.

