Confused, Developers pitch in

I've had "buddy compatibility" type interviews where mostly you and the interviewer just chat about ideas until they're satisfied that:
1 - You know what you're talking about and what the project is about.
2 - You can get along with people and work in a team.

I generally have offers come out of this interview style... when they go poorly you get shown the door and it becomes quite awkward if you have to wait for a ride.

I'd imagine you just flunked this interview style.

 

At the very least, I don't think you'll fit well with this startup's style of communication (add scare quotes as needed).

I've had a few gigs where there were carefully written specs (which no one actually followed), frequent status reports (which no one actually read or acted on), progress meetings (which were often more "regress" meetings due to crappy QA), and a single "visionary" who sadly couldn't recall what he'd said or directed others to do from one week to another. If I requested equipment or other resources, I might get them or it might be ignored for weeks, despite being crucial to making the deadline.

On other gigs, I was given a brief outline of what was expected, and then they left me to gather the views of stakeholders, coordinate with other workers, and bring it all together. Despite having less information up front, this was much easier to work with because we informally communicated what we were doing. It was truly collaborative instead of being a random feature generator.

 

Sounds to me like the guy was a back-room engineering type with no idea how to line up a team and funding to bring an app idea to market. That's pretty typical.

My guess is he was hoping you'd jump up and down, declare this was the greatest idea you'd ever heard, and offer him piles of money, no strings attached, to go off and implement his idea.

EDIT: I just reread your message, and now I'm not sure I read it right. Is he a business guy, looking for developers, or a developer, trying to sell his idea?

 

Maybe he was hoping you'd sign on as a partner in his venture and do the work on speculation. That's pretty typical.

If he is that lost, walk away and don't look back.

If he calls you back or contacts you again, politely explain what you expect/require from a potential client, and how he did not meet your expectations.

 

A lot of people think the most important thing in development (or most things, not just apps) is the idea. In reality, the execution is what will make or break and app.

Everyone's got ideas, the hard work is realising them and turning them into a useful application which draws users. That's what he should have come to you with. Then the interview would have been to see if you could turn his idea into reality based on some specific requirements.