IPhone App Programmers LA NYC San Francisco: 10 Dangers of Working With Developers

NEW! Part Two: Android / Iphone App Programmer Reveals How to Build Your App

The following is the collected wisdom from 5 iPhone app programmers from San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Chicago. You might find that it can save you a great deal of time, money, and heartache. Also see ebook programmer or event management company instead.

(NYC Apple Store — iPhone Apps) Back in the real estate boom days, lots and lots of my Bud Light drinking friends got rich. The went out and got themselves a contractor’s license and built homes. He quickly bought corvette ZR-1s (plurl), a yacht, played golf at Torrey Pines, and bought two weird looking cats.

Sam (real name) built houses faster than anyone else in the business. He was my gorgeous green-eyed blond girlfriend’s dad. The faster he built a home, the faster the buyer could stop paying rent on their interim housing, the more money he made. His buyers loved him. He loved his money.

Funny thing about it, just beneath the thickness of three coats of paint is where he hijacked his time. He took every shortcut in the book. Then, he wrote the sequel. Wiring wasn’t grounded, beams weren’t locked in, insulation wasn’t installed. None of this really made any practical impact on the active young couples who moved in and used their new San Diego home sparingly.

Would this guy pass for a general contractor? How about an iphone app programmer / developer?

The people Sam hurt were the elderly who moved into his Las Vegas and LA homes. Their heating and air-conditioning bills skyrocketed. Leaning on a wall made outlets catch fire.

It was also the elderly few who hurt Sam.

Journalists just couldn’t turn their back on their stories. Even if a dozen younger couples had complained, it was an elderly woman who commanded attention and started off a landslide of destruction in Sam’s life.

Eventually, after lurid tell-all court dates, Sam’s divorce from Linda, and his bankruptcy, Every single one of his properties were devalued. So in the end Sam’s shortcut mentality even hurt the younger active couples in Del Mar.

IPhone Apps and Ipad Apps are here to stay
I realize that there is a huge rush to stake out your marketshare in the virgin mobile world. And getting that market share fast means money. But just like Sam, if you build your app in a way that saves $1 but creates $100 liability later, you’re shooting yourself in the foot with one of those super slow-mo Matrix style bullets.

IPhone Apps and Android Apps are here to stay.  If you’re in a major met like NYC or LA, the sheer density of people around you can multiply the adoption of an app. Get yours out there immediately to capture your early adopter market share. But do it in a way that creates minimal liabilities. Here’s what to look out for under the third layer of paint:

1. Programmers Annotations
Every experienced and honest programmer places tags in his code that explain what any given lines of code actually do. This way, he can always go back with a “CNTRL-F” keyboard command and rapidly find the sections to modify. This also makes it simple for a new programmer to take over if you part ways. It takes a little bit more time in the first run to create annotations but if you come back with any changes (which we both KNOW you will) the changes will be quick.

Programmer Sam doesn’t do this. Sam thinks leaving annotations out or using his own proprietary code will give him job security. This is like your mate asking you to stay married because otherwise that one “video” will hit Facebook.

2. Experience Building Exactly the Same Components
The first and the very first, first thing you should do when interviewing a potential iPhone App developer is identify your mission critical functionality. If you’re going to build an app with audio, a “play button that plays” is mission critical.

I’ll give you a personal example. I’m building an invoicing app for contractors. I’ve had contractors at my house. The part I hate is having to spell my street and city name for them – twice. So I’m building a bidding and invoicing app that automatically fills in their invoice with my address. All they have to do is click a button that says, “USE THIS GPS LOCATION.”

So my mission critical functionality is the ability to *extract and enter GPS address data into a field.*

I asked 12 people I’m hiring for my inhouse iPhone App developer team if they could fulfill this requirement. All of them said yes. Only one showed me an app where he worked with GPS. I’m considering hiring him as a part of my internal team. Nobody else ever worked with GPS. Nobody else quickly extracted GPS data and filled in an address field with it.

Work with people who already have experience building exactly what you need. Otherwise, you’re money will end up paying for a developer to watch Youtube tutorials.

3. Make the NDA Unnecessary
No, don’t skip the NDA, just make it unnecessary. If you break down your iPhone app into abstract “mission critical functionalities” you can technically hire three different groups of programmers around the world to each build pieces of the app. Then hire one more person to put it all together. If you do this, your risk of intellectual property theft is zero. Again, it’s about keeping your liabilities minimal.

Or work with an established publically known firm. If you chose to hire a team like ours to develop your iPhone App, we’ve worked so hard to build a strong reputation, that NDAs, while welcome, are really unnecessary. Our team reputation is too valuable to leave you anything less than 100% happy.

4. Ask for a Discount in Trade for Equity
Get a bid. Then ask for a discount based on a reasonable equity stake. This is important. If the programmer says no, this means that he has no faith in the long term success of your iPhone App. With that kind of attitude, how could he possibly do a good job?

5. Don’t Work with Anyone Who Quotes You a Rate and Cost Without a “Requirements Map.”
If you don’t have a detailed (free) conversation about your iPhone app’s requirements, any cost of time estimate is a guess. People who play the lottery guess. A professional will not offer an estimate until he totally understands your vision. And your vision must include the “Click Map” for every user.

If You’re Building an iPhone App and you want an experienced developer, call us at (310) 598-1606. Or email bob.wan.kim@gmail. We’d love to hear your vision and see how we can help you build your app. Even if we don’t work together, a conversation with our experienced team may just help speed up your time to total world domination.

For a free cost estimate, see: http://sparkah.com/apps.php

Then Call Bob Wan Kim at
(310) 598 1606

LA: (310) 598 1606 | NYC: (347) 767 6775