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I have an idea for an iphone app. I want to develop this app. I took an iphone class and tried to develop this app. However, I soon realized you have to be very good to develop a really good app. So I am about to contact a acquaintance regarding this project.

I don't have capital to hire an iphone developer but I am willing to pay the expenses for tools, marketing etc. I will be taking care of sitemap creation and marketing.

What would be a fair equity share ? Please let me know if you need more details to answer me correctly.

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2 Answers

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Couple of quick questions:

Who would run the business on a day to day basis taking care of marketing, business development, product testing, launch, pricing, selling and collections?

Post launch who would cater and pay for customer support, book keeping and distributing the application through the app store(s)?

As Chris says, an idea or a few thousand lines of code is not the business. The business is everything around "that" converts the idea and the code into a steady and sustainable stream of cash.

Whoever does "that" gets the thickest chunk of equity. Also see the following

Equity Distribution between co-founders and

How to divide equity

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I would look at it in terms of what percentage of the total number of hours it will take to make this app releasable you will contribute versus the developer.

For example, let's say you build the interface graphics, and that takes 40 hours, and the coding takes 40 hours. You're in a 50/50 situation there. If you are contributing cash in the form of software purchases, etc., then you can factor that in based on what a programmer's time is worth.

Also, be careful not to fall into the trap of thinking that the "idea is the gold". In reality, the gold is in making the idea real. Coming up with the idea is the fraction of the overall development process. It's all about execution. There were many smartphones out there, but it was Apple's execution that made the iPhone what it is.

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