Storyboard - refer to ViewController in AppDelegate

Have a look at the documentation for -[UIStoryboard instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier:]. This allows you to instantiate a view controller from your storyboard using the identifier that you set in the IB Attributes Inspector:

EDITED to add example code:

UIStoryboard *mainStoryboard = [UIStoryboard storyboardWithName:@"MainStoryboard"
                                                         bundle: nil];

MyViewController *controller = (MyViewController*)[mainStoryboard 
                    instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier: @"<Controller ID>"];

If you use XCode 5 you should do it in a different way.

• Select your UIViewController in UIStoryboard
• Go to the Identity Inspector on the right top pane
• Check the Use Storyboard ID checkbox
• Write a unique id to the Storyboard ID field

Then write your code.

// Override point for customization after application launch.

if (<your implementation>) {
    UIStoryboard *mainStoryboard = [UIStoryboard storyboardWithName:@"Main" 
                                                             bundle: nil];
    YourViewController *yourController = (YourViewController *)[mainStoryboard 
      instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier:@"YourViewControllerID"];
    self.window.rootViewController = yourController;
}

return YES;