He Had Never Used macOS. Three Weeks Later, He Launched an App.

Everyone’s got ideas. Most stay trapped in your notes app, slowly dying next to “buy dog sunscreen” and “AI for soup.”

That’s why we built NTE Pro - 4,000+ startup ideas that actually spark action.

Here’s the kicker: ideas are super important but not really the hard part. Execution is.

So we’re back with round two of It Exists, real stories of people who saw an idea, said “screw it,” and made it happen. Some built companies. Some scratched an itch. All shipped something.

Same energy as NTE Zero to One, where we help you turn ideas into MVPs, fast.

Just builders, building. Let’s go.

Like this guy.

He got banned from PayPal at 13. Legend behavior.
He didn’t go to bootcamp. Didn’t major in CS.
Wasn’t a designer, engineer, or serial founder.
Just a Midwest kid working in product marketing at a major airline.
No tech background. No Twitter persona. Just a MacBook and a nicotine habit.

Then he launched Pouched, a clean, focused tracker for nicotine pouches (50mg support included. Swedes, you’re welcome).

The idea didn’t drop from the sky. It built up. Slowly.
And then he built it. Quickly.

It Started With Minecraft Servers and a Frozen PayPal Account

Thatcher’s first taste of the internet wasn’t SwiftUI or side projects.
It was Minecraft.

He ran a whole network of servers from his bedroom, starting at age 13. Built worlds, ran communities, sold memberships and made real money doing it.

“The first time you make money on the internet is special.”

And then?

PayPal and Stripe shut him down. They held the money for five years.

Flash forward a decade. He’s working in Chicago in Product Marketing building physical products for a major airline, dipping his toes into digital flows too.  That intersection got his gears turning.

Meanwhile, he kept watching indie app builders like Steven Cravotta, Alex Finn, Julia Pintar, and Cormac Hayden launch projects, share learnings, and win.

They weren’t waiting for permission. They were just building.

“Alex Finn told me there were millions trapped inside my MacBook.”

So Thatcher bought one. December 1st. And gave himself a challenge:

Ship something by January 1st.

The Problem Hit Close to Home (Literally, Inside His Mouth)

Nicotine pouches feel great.
That wasn’t the problem.

The problem was not knowing how much nicotine he was actually absorbing, especially compared to traditional smokers. That question stuck.

And then the idea hit:
What if there were an app that actually showed that?

A modern, visual, track-your-habit kind of thing. Not original - just useful.
He just wanted to build his version - something modern, clean, and clear.

Lesson 1: Steal the Structure. Apply It Somewhere New.

Thatcher didn’t invent the idea of tracking nicotine.

Apps like Puff Count already existed and he’s the first to admit it.

“This isn’t a novel concept - I was inspired by Steven Cravotta’s Puff Count and so were many other app builders. Good for them.”

But here’s the move:
He didn’t clone it.
He translated it from vapes to pouches. Different delivery. Same core insight.

A modern, clean, visual tracker but for a habit no one had built around yet.

That’s the unlock.

You don’t need to come up with something new.
You just need to see where something old hasn’t been applied yet.

So he built it.

Lesson 2: You Don’t Need to Be So Technical - Just Patient

Once Thatcher had the idea, the hard part began: actually building it.

He had never written Swift.
Didn’t know Xcode.
Didn’t even know how to navigate macOS.

But he didn’t let that stop him, because he wasn’t aiming for perfect.
He was just patient enough to figure it out as he went.

“Are you patient enough to build it?”

That was his mindset.

He didn’t need credentials. He needed a loop that worked:

“Prompt → make plan in markdown format → have Claude go → show Claude compiler errors until it works → test on device → repeat.”

He stitched it together using whatever he could find:

• 10 Days of SwiftUI

• A CodeWithChris demo project

• Two Alex Finn guides on Cursor

• A graveyard of bookmarked tweets

• And Claude, his “lawyer/senior engineer/analyst”

He didn’t know everything.
But he knew how to keep going.

Try → Fail → Ask → Fix → Repeat.

That loop got him to a working 1.0 in three weeks.

Total cost: $20.

The Build That Broke (and Got Rebuilt Smarter)

Pouched 1.0 worked, but barely.

“Spaghetti code is a problem. Pouched 1.0 was a mess but I was able to finish it. But I couldn’t update it for sh*t.”

Still, people used it.

Especially in Europe, where, apparently, the pouches are not for the faint of heart.

“European snus is insane. I had to up the strength level to 50mg because the Swedish guys were sending me nasty grams.”

After letting it run for a bit, Thatcher came back smarter.

He deleted the entire frontend and rebuilt it in 7 days, working evenings after his job.

“My new approach is better, and I actually know what’s in my codebases now because I learned how to read (code).”

That wasn’t just a redesign.
It was a level-up.

Better UX. Better structure.
Same mission.

Lesson 3: Marketing Feels Easy - Until It’s Yours

He had shipped it.
He had rebuilt it.
Now came the part he thought would be second nature: getting people to care.

After all, Thatcher works in product marketing at a major airline. He knows this stuff.
But promoting your own app?

That’s different.

“Marketing is hard and I say that as somebody working in marketing.”

He didn’t launch on Product Hunt.
Didn’t run ads.
Didn’t even post much on his personal accounts.

Sometimes the best marketing is just shipping something useful, sharing it simply, and letting it spread.

“I’ve only recently started sharing this on my personal accounts. I was not expecting to land on Lenny’s Newsletter.”

Lesson learned:
Even builders who work in marketing have to relearn how to talk about their own stuff.
Start early. Talk to people. Don’t overthink it.

If it’s real, people will notice.

What You Can Learn From Thatcher

1. You don’t need a new idea. Just a clear one.
   Start with something real, even if someone’s done it before. Just point it at a new audience and make it better.
   

2. You don’t need to be technical. You need to be relentless.
   Forget credentials. What matters is your willingness to figure it out one prompt, one bug, one late-night rebuild at a time.
   

3. Your tools are your team. Use Claude, Cursor, Reddit, YouTube.
   You’re not alone. Everything you need to learn and build is already out there, you just have to learn to use it.
   

4. Spaghetti code still ships. Fix it later.
   You’ll cringe later. That’s fine. What matters is getting version one out the door.
   

5. Marketing is weird when it’s your thing. Do it anyway.
   Even if you work in marketing, promoting your own work feels awkward. But do it anyway,  people can’t find what you don’t share.

Follow Thatcher & See What’s Next

👉 Download Pouched — the nicotine pouch tracker he built from scratch
👉 Check out format.partners — where he’s building what’s next

Thatcher isn’t slowing down.

“I have a lot of ‘quit’ apps in mind.”

Pouched was just the beginning.
He and a friend just spent a few weeks building a new social app. The TestFlight is opening soon.

The builder switch is on.

If you’ve got an idea sitting in your notes app  or no idea at all yet, this is your sign to start.

Sign up for NTE Pro, our premium library of 4,000+ startup ideas, complete with GTM paths, monetization strategies, and real examples.

When you’re ready to build:
Open Cursor. Open Claude. Follow the bookmarks.
Or work with us through NTE Zero to One and we’ll help you go from idea → shipped product.

You don’t need to be first.

You just need to go.

Let’s make it exist.