Taking Care of the Legal Stuff – 10 Things to Look Out For

If you are considering outsourcing some or all of your project then you should definitely think about having a Non Disclosure Agreement signed by everyone that will see your specifications or idea.   You can find some decent NDAs on Docstoc and then simply put your name or Company name in the document or have a lawyer help adapt it for your needs.  Especially with outsourcing the project abroad, it is just too difficult to know whether you can trust all of the developers you will speak with.  While I am sure most NDAs won’t hold up internationally anyways, even the fact that someone is willing to go through the trouble of printing, signing, and scanning says something in my mind.

Once you have a signed NDA and you have sent out your specs and chosen someone to your liking the next step is drafting a contract.  What worked well for me was to create a contract between the developer and myself outlining, via milestones and detailed specs, what was going to be done at each stage.  While it takes a lot more up front work on your end to know exactly what you are looking for, it pays off in the end by having everything out on the table for everyone involved.

Things to consider in terms of a contract with a developer for an iPhone application:

Choosing a Developer: How to Get it Right the 1st Time!

I started by posting a local (Philadelphia) advertisement to Craigslist and also by going to oDesk and posting an advertisement looking for an iPhone developer.  My ad on Craigslist was straightforward and I offered both a salary while in development but also a portion of the returns.  I got some good feedback and received inquiries from individuals, local iPhone development companies but also many international development firms.  Initially I was interested in finding something more like a partner with technical skills to work with and share the return. This quickly proved to not be an option.

I still don’t think it is a bad deal to offer a developer: 1) an application idea, 2) a salary, 3) a flexible schedule, and 4) a portion of the returns.  I wasn’t able to find anyone experienced, however, with enough interest to really dive in to the project.  While I am sure this is a symptom of the high demand for iPhone developers and my lack of being able to find / convince anyone locally (I only posted on Craigslist so wasn’t exactly scouring the city), it was still surprising how few serious inquiries I received.  Let me just add, as someone who is learning the iPhone SDK, I was amazed at how little most developers who reached out to me knew about developing with the iPhone SDK.