Creating an App for AppStore with no programming experience.

[wax lyrical]

Hi All, I have an idea for a great App (Apple & Android) which I'm sure would be really popular (in the home cookery market) but I have zero programming or coding knowledge so would need to hire a 3rd-party developer to create the App for me.

Is this possible while at the same time protecting my original idea?

Thanks!

[NDA]

wax lyrical said:

Hi All, I have an idea for a great App (Apple & Android) which I'm sure would be really popular (in the home cookery market) but I have zero programming or coding knowledge so would need to hire a 3rd-party developer to create the App for me.

Is this possible while at the same time protecting my original idea?

Thanks!

Yes it is. You will undoubtedly need to cede equity in the new venture to a developer. It depends what the idea is, but generally ideas are hard to patent in this space.

[akirk]

of course you can and no idea why someone would think that you would need to give away equity!
you talk about hiring a company - just go and do exactly that - if you are prepared to fund it then you own it and the equity...
you may wish to have a lawyer involved to protect you, but the chances are that any threat will not come from the company you hire copying you (their business model is in your hiring them!) but from other companies who watch popular apps and copy them - they will be far more difficult to stop - if you can have content that is difficult to copy then you stand a better chance...
but be aware that if it is complex it won't be cheap.

finding a developer on an equity split is possible but leads to all sorts of other issues - like any business venture if you can self fund you are in a much stronger position

[98elise]

akirk said:

of course you can and no idea why someone would think that you would need to give away equity!
you talk about hiring a company - just go and do exactly that - if you are prepared to fund it then you own it and the equity...
you may wish to have a lawyer involved to protect you, but the chances are that any threat will not come from the company you hire copying you (their business model is in your hiring them!) but from other companies who watch popular apps and copy them - they will be far more difficult to stop - if you can have content that is difficult to copy then you stand a better chance...
but be aware that if it is complex it won't be cheap.

finding a developer on an equity split is possible but leads to all sorts of other issues - like any business venture if you can self fund you are in a much stronger position

Agreed. I'm a developer/contractor. I charge a daily rate and anything I develop belongs to my clients, even though I do everything except decided the initial requirments.

[NDA]

akirk said:

no idea why someone would think that you would need to give away equity!

Because app development can be capital intensive - assuming one wants a professional outcome. Some find dealing with digital designers and developers who are on an open-ended contract a little scary. Costs can soon spiral out of control. Therefore working with a sweat equity partner can be an alternative.

It's been my experience over the years that sub scale businesses are run by equity hungry founders - they end up with a large amount of equity in something with little value.

Just my own view of course.

[anonymous-user]

And start saving up as it will be at least a few tens of K to launch a decent app into a crowded marketplace.

[akirk]

NDA said:

akirk said:

no idea why someone would think that you would need to give away equity!

Because app development can be capital intensive - assuming one wants a professional outcome. Some find dealing with digital designers and developers who are on an open-ended contract a little scary. Costs can soon spiral out of control. Therefore working with a sweat equity partner can be an alternative.

It's been my experience over the years that sub scale businesses are run by equity hungry founders - they end up with a large amount of equity in something with little value.

Just my own view of course.

Fair points, I think it was that it came across as there being no choice...

The reality of course is that statistically the app probably won't make money anyway
If the risk is high, then it is worth giving away equity, but if the OP is confident then holding onto equity is worth while

[jammy-git]

akirk said:

The reality of course is that statistically the app probably won't make money anyway

Exactly this.

Look around and see if there are any similar apps already available. A big red flag is if there isn't - there's usually a good reason.

Create a landing page marketing your app before you create it and see how many sign ups you get to a "forthcoming beta release". It'll help you gauge interest having spent only a few hundred pounds instead of thousands or tens of thousands.

[jonamv8]

Big no to open ends contracts

Brief
Tech specs agreed
Quote based on specs with set milestones

Happy to discuss under NDA for 15 mins as we do this a fair bit

[twoblacklines]

If you look around on Odesk or whatever it is called now you will see devs offer to do it on the cheap but demand equity, they will claim this is industry standard, and if you don't agree they might go and do your idea anyway NDA or no NDA. Better off with a company at least you can sue them and their reputation will take a hit if they broke the NDA, as apposed to a one man ltd company who can just dissolve and setup a new one the next day.

Had lots of problems with IP theft on Odesk, would not recommend.

[pr1mate78]

I have a friend who runs a business with alot of experience in this field. Unless you have a significant capitol to invest then forget it. Ideas are great but realistically you are looking at eye watering sums to be a player here.