
The Going Rate for Contract iPhone Developers - sant0sk1
http://daringfireball.net/linked/2008/11/26/contract-iphone-developers
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pxlpshr
I'm not a developer but I've managed to lasso a few guys together through
equity-based compensation on the profit from sales of version 1-1.x. At
version 2, terms are open for renegotiation by either party. This clause is to
protect myself in the event we need to raise money for aggressive features, or
the developer's interest begins to taper. There are other clauses in place if
the developer doesn't want to support the app, but that's getting into
details.

I'd rather keep my partners around because of the trust we've established.
What's good for them is good for me, especially if they can quit their day job
off the sales of our products. Version 2 features are going to take a lot of
hard work.

I really don't have any interest in paying developers cash because to maintain
a competitive app in the store, you can't just build it once and put it out
there. For some apps, that may work... but if you're trying to build a lasting
mobile app company, you have to stand behind your product(s), add features,
and continuously improve... I wish I had the money to pay these guys for their
full-time attention, month after month... but I don't so the only way to get
that is to share the success.

It's not easy finding partners this way, especially with the markets taking a
dump... What I did that I believe helped was in the presentation of the idea
to the developers. I'm the designer, so I was able to mock up very solid
prototypes for them to get a better understanding of what I was looking to
accomplish.

~~~
jhancock
It sounds like you've put together a balanced compensation structure. Is it
possible for you to publish at least an outline of this? I think many of us
struggle with coming up with meaningful equity arrangements for small and un-
funded projects.

~~~
pxlpshr
Sorry for late response - holiday weekend.

I'm trying to setup the company very loosely to attract entrepreneurial
developers. We have plain-english contracts in Google Docs that we jointly
edit until we're both satisfied.

Since I've been responsible for all of our current product ideas, I'm entitled
to a majority of the profit (usually 60%) but it's negotiated on a per-project
basis. For example, one of our app's has a "web service" integrated into it
hoping we can monetize on ads on backside traffic. Per $1 we decrease that
products price, he gets an additional 10% of the ad revenue on said website.
That said, I think you need to handle each product and developer on a case-by-
case basis.

As long as the developer adequately stands behind the product with support and
feature-add, then they get to keep their share. If they are not interested in
supporting, adding features, or localizing the app for other countries -- then
their profit decreases ~20% per additional developer required.

I also extend each developer the ability to publish through our company
account on their own terms if they have an idea. Whether or not our company
directly promotes their product(s) is up to me (and them).

Feel free to contact me if you have any additional questions.

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cubicle67
Here's the linked article [http://blogs.oreilly.com/iphone/2008/11/turning-
ideas-into-a...](http://blogs.oreilly.com/iphone/2008/11/turning-ideas-into-
application.html)

I wrote a simple app that mode it into the AppStore yesterday. It sold 4
copies in the first day. Not much for some people, but it made my day.

~~~
ciscoriordan
What app?

~~~
cubicle67
Here's the iTunes link (will open iTunes)
[http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftwa...](http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=297749341&mt=8)

It's just a simple resistor decoder with a few subtle enhancements

~~~
mahipal
That is a really good looking app. I like the color / value overlay and the
simple, clean interface.

Don't let the low first day sales discourage you. I saw my biggest spike on
the 2nd day of sales. I think it has to do with how long it takes to percolate
through to all the international App Stores.

If you just released yesterday, you should go into iTunes Connect and tweak
your release date to reflect that. Your app is on the 3rd page of your
category already, and that is going to severely hamper you sales. (The pages
are ordered by release date by default.) I've noticed my sales decline as my
app slips further back into the deeper pages of my category. Once you hit
about page 10 or so, consider doing a trivial update so you can land back on
page 1 of your category.

Lastly, for what it's worth, I think it's a little overpriced for what you're
selling. Most of the apps that compete with you in this niche are at the 0.99
price point. In fact, there's one that's very similar (but much uglier) for
free.

At any rate, I bought it and left you a 5 star review, since it does exactly
what you claim. I feel every independent iPhone developer should have a few
people setting the bar high on the first few reviews. Best of luck!

~~~
cubicle67
Thanks heaps, both for buying the app and the advice.

Please let me know of any suggestions/ideas etc you'd like to see, and let me
know if you find any bugs as well.

By the way, what's your app?

[Edit: Had a look at your site. My girls will love Fantasy Dolls when it
arrives. Love the look of your site too; clever, original and clean]

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kqr2
As a comparison, does anyone know the contract rate for Android or other smart
phone developers?

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flashgordon
wow.. how would one go about finding such work... and here ive been just
wasting my time "playing" around with iphone dev...

~~~
potatolicious
Ditto. I've been working with the SDK since the day it was released, have a
few years of Mac dev experience, and am currently working towards releasing my
first iPhone app... now I feel like a sucker for not doing this on contract!

~~~
flashgordon
actually my experience is not deep as yours.. ive been playing with it side by
side with android... also your (ie my) iphone development is not as hard core
as some of you guys when you are running osx on a non-mac (wont say which :(
)..

i guess i have to get a mac sometime...

~~~
Zev
The ability to run osx86 has absolutely no corresponding effect on ones
ability to code.

~~~
flashgordon
absolutely... but the lack of an iphone sdk for non-mac environments does
effect one's opporunities to code (for the iphone) :D

~~~
Zev
You can still view documentation online and code in your favorite editor (90%
of my code is really done in TextMate, not Xcode). The only thing you need the
Mac for is the final compilation.

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dangrover
Damn, I need to start billing my clients more for this stuff.

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tialys
I just convinced my friend to learn the iPhone SDK and build an app with me,
now I'm even more excited!

~~~
cubicle67
go for it!

It's quite a kick seeing your code running on the iPhone (or iPod in my case),
much different to just writing normal code and having it run on the screen.

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DenisM
It's not an unusual amount of money, honestly.

If you're making $100k/year full time your hourly rate is $50/hour. When
contracting you should charge double your fulltime rate for long-term gigs and
triple for short-term gigs. Which takes us to $100-$150/hour.

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markessien
Well, I'm studying iPhone development at the moment, and I guess I'll try to
enter the contractor market soon when I'm comfortable with the platform. Or
maybe before, there are enough people who will pay me to learn (I think,
anyways)!

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msie
If only that was true. :D

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comatose_kid
It is true - I've heard a similar range.

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Angostura
Yes. I was chatting to one of the folks involved in iPhone Devcamp the other
week and he was saying that $120 is the bare minimum at the moment. So the
figures tally.

