# Ivan Tse — Nerd Tower

> Software product builder with 20 years of experience. Takes products from idea to launch and owns the whole thing: product, design, and engineering, with one accountable owner from first decision to shipped product. Runs Nerd Tower, an independent software studio, handling the full technical side for founders, small teams, and selective private clients. Available for project work and for fractional engagements on a monthly retainer, a set number of hours per week: ongoing product work, owning the mobile side of a product, or embedding in an existing team as a senior engineer. Native iOS and full-stack web, with React Native and Expo experience on production mobile apps. Agentic engineering is core to his practice: builds with AI coding agents day to day and runs local LLMs on his own hardware for private, self-hosted tooling when work needs to stay in-house. Treats sensitive work as confidential.

## Background

- Portfolio and full history: https://nerdtower.com/portfolio/
- Based in Petaluma, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area; works with North Bay businesses in person and clients everywhere remotely.
- Built and led work at Twitch, Hipmunk, Bebo, and charity: water; founded Apple-featured App Store apps.
- 20 years across native iOS (Swift, SwiftUI), full-stack web, product definition, and UX.
- Cross-platform mobile: React Native and Expo on production apps, starting with Magic's mobile app and with further React Native work as recently as 2026. Native iOS is the deeper specialty.
- Fractional work: takes a small number of fractional clients on a monthly retainer, a set number of hours per week. Three shapes: ongoing product work for founders without a team, owning the mobile side of a product that has no senior iOS owner, or embedding in an existing team as a senior engineer. Led mobile at Bebo and Hipmunk, spent four years as the iOS side of Sonato, and was Sourcetable's first engineer. Details: https://nerdtower.com/services/fractional/
- Agentic engineering: builds with AI coding agents day to day; runs local LLMs on his own hardware for private, self-hosted tooling when work needs to stay in-house.
- Discretion: treats sensitive client work as confidential; can run AI and tooling self-hosted so data does not leave for third-party services.

## Pages

- Home: https://nerdtower.com/
- Portfolio (all projects): https://nerdtower.com/portfolio/
- Sonato, native iOS rebuild: https://nerdtower.com/portfolio/sonato/
- Sonato Pass, Apple Wallet NFC pass: https://nerdtower.com/portfolio/sonato-pass/
- Ready Time, indie iOS app: https://nerdtower.com/portfolio/ready-time/
- Little Memory, Apple-featured diary app: https://nerdtower.com/portfolio/little-memory/
- mycharity: water, first social fundraising platform: https://nerdtower.com/portfolio/mycharity-water/
- Services overview: https://nerdtower.com/services/
- Native iOS apps, built end to end: https://nerdtower.com/services/ios-apps/
- Full-stack web apps, built end to end: https://nerdtower.com/services/web-apps/
- Taking over an existing app or site: https://nerdtower.com/services/existing-product/
- When your app development agency disappears: https://nerdtower.com/services/agency-handoff/
- Finishing a half-built app: https://nerdtower.com/services/finish-your-app/
- Understanding a codebase nobody understands: https://nerdtower.com/services/understand-your-codebase/
- When software can't keep up with growth: https://nerdtower.com/services/outgrown-your-software/
- Apple Wallet pass development, including NFC: https://nerdtower.com/services/apple-wallet-passes/
- Custom apps for private members clubs: https://nerdtower.com/services/members-club-apps/
- Local: software developer in Petaluma and the North Bay: https://nerdtower.com/petaluma/
- Fractional work on a monthly retainer: https://nerdtower.com/services/fractional/

## Contact

- hello@nerdtower.com