Where do I find a reputable Iphone SDK programmer?

A few places that come to mind:

• jobs section on craigslist in your desired geographic area
• post a job at http://careers.joelonsoftware.com/Jobs
• post a job or look through resumes at http://careers.stackoverflow.com/
• join Linked in iPhone developer's group (http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=121874&trk=anet_ug_hm) and post a job there
• find a iPhone/iPad developer meetup in your area (e.g. in Silicon Valley it would be http://www.meetup.com/sviphone/). Go to a meetup and ask who's available for iPhone work
• http://www.iphonefreelancer.com/
• do google search for iphone/ipad freelance/contractor - many iPhone/iPad developers have websites through which they offer their services

If you are not programmer you can try the to hire freelance developers like these guys

Krzysztof's answer is a good list, but I don't think it will help with the problem of identifying good programmers. I help businesses and entrepreneurs build software. Yes, that means I'm a programmer, but I am mostly a manager and recruiter that organizes the whole project from beginning to end. Your first goal should be to attract quality developers. At a minimum, you need a well-written functional specification. A technical specification and project plan (outline of milestones and tasks) would be ideal as well. These documents will help mitigate some of the risks you're taking as well as show potential candidates that you are serious. Don't make yourself an easy target. For example, "Iphone" should be "iPhone".

Your second goal should be to establish some sort of filtering system. You gave an example of a programmer's quote in your question, followed by "Huh?". While it's true, that many programmers only know how to speak in terms of technology, if you are going to manage this project yourself, you must be able to understand at least a little about the technologies involved. This will require some research on your part. Take notes, and use google or wiki when you don't understand something.

The reality is that most business owners are not qualified to evaluate candidates from a technical standpoint. My advice would include:

• Does the candidate use correct English?
• Does the candidate communicate in a reasonable amount of time?
• Ask for references, look at past work.
• If in the U.S., use BBB.org to see if there are any past complaints.
• Some job sites have testing built-in, so check out the scores.
• Look at the developer's blog. Is it readable? Has it been updated recently?
• Same thing for twitter.
• Does the developer have a stackoverflow reputation, and is it good?
• Look for and verify participation in open source projects.

Summary: The more you document and filter, the more you can reduce your potential risks.