5 ms·

A full-time contract iPhone developer costs $5,000/week

33 points by dchest 18y ago

BigZaphod 18y ago
Wow.. I don't make near that much writing iPhone apps - never have - and I've been in this world since before it was legit. Who are these people?!
- unalone 18y ago
  Either people developing for big companies without experience, or crooks.
  - unalone 18y ago
    Damn, I should have put more thought into that before talking. I wish HN had an editing option, now: I feel kinda stupid.
    - kirubakaran 18y ago
      Life goes on :-)
    - ars 18y ago
      Now you get to feel doubly stupid since HN _does_ have an edit option!
      - unalone 18y ago
        Not after you're downvoted to a certain degree. Otherwise I'd have deleted it outright and made a better comment.
        ars 18y ago
        No, it's not downvotes, it's time - I think you get around 1 hour to edit or delete it.
        unalone 18y ago
        Okay, that would make sense. Either way, I missed my chance.
        asimjalis 18y ago
        You could abandon your old identity, take up a new one, and then publicly mock the comments made by the old one, to distance yourself from them.
        palish 18y ago
        Keep in mind that your deleted comments are never gone, just hidden from common users. PG and crew can still read them.
- ardit33 18y ago
  it is really not that much. You should not under-charge. Ask for 30% returns, if somebody comes at you with less than $125-$150/hr rate. Remember, you are doing hard work, and price it accordingly, and what to the market bears. Engineers tend underestimate they value of their work. Try to find a good lawyer for less than $600/hr.
  - patio11 18y ago
    30% returns sounds like a "You give me large amounts of labor at below-market prices today and in return I give you equity!" This sounds like a fairly decent arrangement for an engineer straight out of college who wants to make a go of a startup and, uh, stupid for a professional with an in-demand skill in a sellers' market. You think their lawyer is getting paid $20 an hour with the remainder to come as a percentage of revenues assuming Marketing does their jobs right? (That's always the stickler with engineers getting equity: you might think you are contributing the most important piece of the puzzle, but really, your contribution can and will be squandered if everybody else doesn't perform at or above your level. There are many, many startups who had top-flight engineers married with "We'll sell pet food on the Internet and make a fortune!"-esque business models.)
- pkaler 18y ago
  I charge about that much. I've had to turn away a lot of smaller projects because I'm way overburdened at the moment. It's amazing how coders don't actually know C anymore. It seems like a rare skill these days. I also have a ton of embedded development experience (Sony PSP, PS3, XBox 360) that transfers well. I teach an iPhone Game Design course at the local polytechnic institute that has been good for marketing. And I bounce between 1st and 2nd when you Google "vancouver iphone developer". I bet I could draw in more work if I advertised on CraigsList and LinkedIn.
  - flashgordon 18y ago
    wow that is impressive... where do you live?? waht kinds of projects do you normally get?
    - flashgordon 18y ago
      actually the "where do you live" question was more about the iphone-app demand inquiry rather than for stalking purposes :D
      - ars 18y ago
        You got downmodded (I think) because he said where he lives: vancouver.
        flashgordon 18y ago
        well he actually implicitly said "vancouver iphone developer" which I misread... and secondly my "where do you live" question was BEFORE he had explicitly mentioned it.. but either way ..
  - markessien 18y ago
    Where do the bulk of your clients come from? From google?
    - 18y ago
Devilboy 18y ago
Yes but he has 10 years experience developing for the iPhone.
- tlrobinson 18y ago
  I realize this was a joke, but 10 years experience developing Cocoa applications on Mac OS X (and previously Nextstep) is essentially the same. Slightly different UI classes, but otherwise mostly the same. And yes, there are people with 10 year experience with this stuff (Wil Shipley comes to mind)
Tichy 18y ago
If you need an iPhone developer and are prepared to pay that much, contact me... (email is in profile).
- josefresco 18y ago
  ha, good one! oh wait, you were serious?
  - Tichy 18y ago
    Not expecting any replies, really, but why not? The rate doesn't seem to be that far out there (compared to Java contracting which is always available). I could also set up contact with an iPhone developer in China who might accept lower rates. What are good places to find iPhone contracts?
deleted 18y ago
[deleted]
sethg 18y ago
Based on previous "how do I compute what I'm worth as a consultant" discussions on forums like this, it seems to me that $125/week as a contractor is equivalent to roughly $100K/year as a salaried employee. That's not unreasonable considering (a) Cocoa developers are presumably in scarcer supply than, say, Java developers, and (b) the price is for "developers I know and trust", i.e., not folks who have just emerged from a "Teach Yourself To Be A Dummy In 21 Days" programming class.
- davido 18y ago
  As far as you know, what is the market salary for a full time Iphone developer ?
  - sethg 18y ago
    I have no idea. I don't do any kind of Mac development so I'm not in touch with that world.
auston 18y ago
I can't believe the author didn't suggest that you learn Obj-C yourself!? He works for a publisher of books that help you learn by yourself and he says... "If you believe in your iPhone application idea passionately, maybe, just maybe there is someone out there who will share your passion and that you can motivate to work under different terms than the going contract rate." Someone == YOU! Learn iPhone dev yourself!
- Tichy 18y ago
  Maybe for some people it really is not an option, if maths and programming are not their strengths.

33 points by dchest 18y ago

Wow.. I don't make near that much writing iPhone apps - never have - and I've been in this world since before it was legit. Who are these people?!

unalone 18y ago
Either people developing for big companies without experience, or crooks.
- unalone 18y ago
  Damn, I should have put more thought into that before talking. I wish HN had an editing option, now: I feel kinda stupid.
  - kirubakaran 18y ago
    Life goes on :-)
  - ars 18y ago
    Now you get to feel doubly stupid since HN _does_ have an edit option!
    - unalone 18y ago
      Not after you're downvoted to a certain degree. Otherwise I'd have deleted it outright and made a better comment.
      - ars 18y ago
        No, it's not downvotes, it's time - I think you get around 1 hour to edit or delete it.
        unalone 18y ago
        Okay, that would make sense. Either way, I missed my chance.
        asimjalis 18y ago
        You could abandon your old identity, take up a new one, and then publicly mock the comments made by the old one, to distance yourself from them.
      - palish 18y ago
        Keep in mind that your deleted comments are never gone, just hidden from common users. PG and crew can still read them.
ardit33 18y ago
it is really not that much. You should not under-charge. Ask for 30% returns, if somebody comes at you with less than $125-$150/hr rate. Remember, you are doing hard work, and price it accordingly, and what to the market bears. Engineers tend underestimate they value of their work. Try to find a good lawyer for less than $600/hr.
- patio11 18y ago
  30% returns sounds like a "You give me large amounts of labor at below-market prices today and in return I give you equity!" This sounds like a fairly decent arrangement for an engineer straight out of college who wants to make a go of a startup and, uh, stupid for a professional with an in-demand skill in a sellers' market. You think their lawyer is getting paid $20 an hour with the remainder to come as a percentage of revenues assuming Marketing does their jobs right? (That's always the stickler with engineers getting equity: you might think you are contributing the most important piece of the puzzle, but really, your contribution can and will be squandered if everybody else doesn't perform at or above your level. There are many, many startups who had top-flight engineers married with "We'll sell pet food on the Internet and make a fortune!"-esque business models.)
pkaler 18y ago
I charge about that much. I've had to turn away a lot of smaller projects because I'm way overburdened at the moment. It's amazing how coders don't actually know C anymore. It seems like a rare skill these days. I also have a ton of embedded development experience (Sony PSP, PS3, XBox 360) that transfers well. I teach an iPhone Game Design course at the local polytechnic institute that has been good for marketing. And I bounce between 1st and 2nd when you Google "vancouver iphone developer". I bet I could draw in more work if I advertised on CraigsList and LinkedIn.
- flashgordon 18y ago
  wow that is impressive... where do you live?? waht kinds of projects do you normally get?
  - flashgordon 18y ago
    actually the "where do you live" question was more about the iphone-app demand inquiry rather than for stalking purposes :D
    - ars 18y ago
      You got downmodded (I think) because he said where he lives: vancouver.
      - flashgordon 18y ago
        well he actually implicitly said "vancouver iphone developer" which I misread... and secondly my "where do you live" question was BEFORE he had explicitly mentioned it.. but either way ..
- markessien 18y ago
  Where do the bulk of your clients come from? From google?
  - 18y ago

Devilboy 18y ago

Yes but he has 10 years experience developing for the iPhone.

tlrobinson 18y ago
I realize this was a joke, but 10 years experience developing Cocoa applications on Mac OS X (and previously Nextstep) is essentially the same. Slightly different UI classes, but otherwise mostly the same. And yes, there are people with 10 year experience with this stuff (Wil Shipley comes to mind)

Tichy 18y ago

If you need an iPhone developer and are prepared to pay that much, contact me... (email is in profile).

josefresco 18y ago
ha, good one! oh wait, you were serious?
- Tichy 18y ago
  Not expecting any replies, really, but why not? The rate doesn't seem to be that far out there (compared to Java contracting which is always available). I could also set up contact with an iPhone developer in China who might accept lower rates. What are good places to find iPhone contracts?

deleted 18y ago

[deleted]

sethg 18y ago

Based on previous "how do I compute what I'm worth as a consultant" discussions on forums like this, it seems to me that $125/week as a contractor is equivalent to roughly $100K/year as a salaried employee. That's not unreasonable considering (a) Cocoa developers are presumably in scarcer supply than, say, Java developers, and (b) the price is for "developers I know and trust", i.e., not folks who have just emerged from a "Teach Yourself To Be A Dummy In 21 Days" programming class.

davido 18y ago
As far as you know, what is the market salary for a full time Iphone developer ?
- sethg 18y ago
  I have no idea. I don't do any kind of Mac development so I'm not in touch with that world.

auston 18y ago

I can't believe the author didn't suggest that you learn Obj-C yourself!? He works for a publisher of books that help you learn by yourself and he says... "If you believe in your iPhone application idea passionately, maybe, just maybe there is someone out there who will share your passion and that you can motivate to work under different terms than the going contract rate." Someone == YOU! Learn iPhone dev yourself!

Tichy 18y ago
Maybe for some people it really is not an option, if maths and programming are not their strengths.