[ChrisCinelli]

You can do revenue share. That does not necessary involve equity in the company. You can request equity in the business but the stakeholders really decide what to do with profits. Young businesses usually do not share profits (assuming they even have them) and reinvest in the company (assuming there are profits). Profits (not revenues) may be shared among stake holders as dividends but it never happens in startups.

However, this is something to consider. It looks like you have a cash flow problem. Equity or future revenues do not pay your bills right now. And an app may end up to be worth 0 so even the future value can be 0. That is probably the case. How many of your friend that asked you to build an app for them are making any money 6 months after you talk with them?

It is not impossible but I would be very surprised that an app that you can build in 2 days and require minimal maintenance can really make money to somebody unless there is already a healthy business that can use it.