 That's the kind of sound you want to listen for. Hi, I'm Nathan and I go by teatipesonline on YouTube and Twitch. I'm a content creator that creates videos regarding the custom mechanical keyboard scene. So I first got introduced into the whole world, very briefly, in 2013 when I was building my first nice high-end custom PC. I was in college at the time and I also majored in software engineering, so knowing that I was going to be programming, I assumed I was going to be programming for the most of my life. So I wanted to find the nicest keyboard that I could at the time with the budget that I had. I found the mechanical keyboards subreddit and it kind of was a rabbit hole from there. Not many people you know are into mechanical keyboards and not many people spend a lot on mechanical keyboards. When you meet someone online who has that same shared interest as you, there's this automatic level of connection that you can suddenly start talking with them about. So in the keyboard community, everything in general is made in a limited run because all these projects are mostly run by community members. They're not made by large corporations, large companies. You get other people to join on your project so you bring the cost down and then once the project's done, that's kind of it. So if you miss out on that project, there's no way for you to get it other than by on the aftermarket. I think the platforms are definitely integral in growing the community, but I think more so than that, it's just the fact that we share this silly hobby. I think that's what brings people together. For a lot of newcomers, I think it's a very interesting and novel thing to see someone building a keyboard from scratch. I mean, I for sure didn't know how a keyboard was built until I dove deep into the hobby. So I think there's that novelty factor for a lot of new people and most likely for new people, I'm mostly dealing with parts that they have never seen or even heard of. So I think there's that. For a lot of returning members who have been watching me for a long time, I think it becomes less about the keyboard, to be honest, and more about just hanging out with me. What am I cutting? Ah, yes, I forgot to explain. So your stabilizers come like this. So you can see how there's these two little prongs that are sticking out. So when you bottom out, it prevents the stabilizer from hitting evenly. So I definitely wasn't the first content creator for the mechanical keyboard scene to arrive. But one thing I think that I provided differently was I kind of made the media easy to consume for newcomers. I feel like Razer's going to hate me after. This is what this keyboard sounds like. I think certain people have different preferences. For me, I think acoustics, I would prioritize over feel. My viewers know that. And when they come into my stream, we generally talk about how a certain build sounds at the end quite a bit. They don't sound that thocky. Yeah, I mean, these are T-Leos though. T-Leos aren't generally known for their thock. People consider it to have a higher pitch, but they're really smooth. The switches do feel pretty nice. I wouldn't say this is universal, but generally, if you ask keyboard community enthusiasts, they will say the sound they strive for is called a thock. It's kind of like a nice, not very high-pitched, kind of low-pitched deep. I don't know how to describe it. It's just a thock. You know it when you hear it, but there's no way to really predict what it's going to sound like. I've been streaming under the makers and crafting category, but when you look at the numbers between the people looking at channels streaming under the makers and crafting category versus any other category, it's massive. Discovery has been hard, and the one thing that's helped me to stay alive is being noticed by these big gamers who bring exposure to my channel. I believe my first big client was a streamer named BeastTrollMC. You can consider him the first biggest client that kind of kickstarted my career. Our brand new keyboard. At the time, I just realized, okay, there's tons of people out there, these high-profile people on Twitch who show their keyboard every day. That's their job. They work on a keyboard. They show it off. Some people have handcams on their screens. And maybe I should target these folks. These are the kind of people who might be interested in the keyboards that I'm building. I think Tfoo probably is the biggest client, undoubtedly, that I've had so far. And his first message, I believe, was like, what's the most expensive keyboard you can build me, obviously. So we started working from there. I reached out to Keycult, one of my sponsors now, and they also produce high-end luxury custom keyboards, and they also have their commission service of their own. But I work with them on my own service as well. So we started working from there. It was a multi-month project. You just hear the pure switch noise. Nice. And it was finally finished in January of this year. And getting that off my plate was such a big relief. I'm very glad he liked it. Oh, my God. Dude, this thing is nuts. I mean, at first, I thought it would just be a side gig that I would do at home to de-stress on the weekends. Last September, I decided to quit my job full-time. My friends and boss, they had no idea why I would leave a secure programming job in the Bay Area to pursue a career in content creation. But it's been working out so far. It's left me with a couple of things, I guess. One being, you know, maybe I can do more stuff like this that people enjoy and that people watch. And then there's also the stress of, how can I top this now? Like, I've landed Tfue. What's next for me? I guess that works, too.
 That's the kind of sound you want to listen for.
 Hi, I'm Nathan and I go by teatipesonline on YouTube and Twitch.
 I'm a content creator that creates videos regarding the custom mechanical keyboard scene.
 So I first got introduced into the whole world, very briefly, in 2013 when I was building my first nice high-end custom PC.
 I was in college at the time and I also majored in software engineering, so knowing that I was going to be programming, I assumed I was going to be programming for the most of my life.
 So I wanted to find the nicest keyboard that I could at the time with the budget that I had.
 I found the mechanical keyboards subreddit and it kind of was a rabbit hole from there.
 Not many people you know are into mechanical keyboards and not many people spend a lot on mechanical keyboards.
 When you meet someone online who has that same shared interest as you, there's this automatic level of connection that you can suddenly start talking with them about.
 So in the keyboard community, everything in general is made in a limited run because all these projects are mostly run by community members.
 They're not made by large corporations, large companies.
 You get other people to join on your project so you bring the cost down and then once the project's done, that's kind of it.
 So if you miss out on that project, there's no way for you to get it other than by on the aftermarket.
 I think the platforms are definitely integral in growing the community, but I think more so than that, it's just the fact that we share this silly hobby.
 I think that's what brings people together.
 For a lot of newcomers, I think it's a very interesting and novel thing to see someone building a keyboard from scratch.
 I mean, I for sure didn't know how a keyboard was built until I dove deep into the hobby.
 So I think there's that novelty factor for a lot of new people and most likely for new people, I'm mostly dealing with parts that they have never seen or even heard of.
 So I think there's that.
 For a lot of returning members who have been watching me for a long time, I think it becomes less about the keyboard, to be honest,
 and more about just hanging out with me.
 What am I cutting?
 Ah, yes, I forgot to explain.
 So your stabilizers come like this.
 So you can see how there's these two little prongs that are sticking out.
 So when you bottom out, it prevents the stabilizer from hitting evenly.
 So I definitely wasn't the first content creator for the mechanical keyboard scene to arrive.
 But one thing I think that I provided differently was I kind of made the media easy to consume for newcomers.
 I feel like Razer's going to hate me after.
 This is what this keyboard sounds like.
 I think certain people have different preferences.
 For me, I think acoustics, I would prioritize over feel.
 My viewers know that.
 And when they come into my stream, we generally talk about how a certain build sounds at the end quite a bit.
 They don't sound that thocky.
 Yeah, I mean, these are T-Leos though.
 T-Leos aren't generally known for their thock.
 People consider it to have a higher pitch, but they're really smooth.
 The switches do feel pretty nice.
 I wouldn't say this is universal, but generally, if you ask keyboard community enthusiasts,
 they will say the sound they strive for is called a thock.
 It's kind of like a nice, not very high-pitched, kind of low-pitched deep.
 I don't know how to describe it.
 It's just a thock.
 You know it when you hear it, but there's no way to really predict what it's going to sound like.
 I've been streaming under the makers and crafting category,
 but when you look at the numbers between the people looking at channels streaming under the makers and crafting category
 versus any other category, it's massive.
 Discovery has been hard, and the one thing that's helped me to stay alive is being noticed by these big gamers
 who bring exposure to my channel.
 I believe my first big client was a streamer named BeastTrollMC.
 You can consider him the first biggest client that kind of kickstarted my career.
 Our brand new keyboard.
 At the time, I just realized, okay, there's tons of people out there,
 these high-profile people on Twitch who show their keyboard every day.
 That's their job.
 They work on a keyboard.
 They show it off.
 Some people have handcams on their screens.
 And maybe I should target these folks.
 These are the kind of people who might be interested in the keyboards that I'm building.
 I think Tfoo probably is the biggest client, undoubtedly, that I've had so far.
 And his first message, I believe, was like,
 what's the most expensive keyboard you can build me, obviously.
 So we started working from there.
 I reached out to Keycult, one of my sponsors now,
 and they also produce high-end luxury custom keyboards,
 and they also have their commission service of their own.
 But I work with them on my own service as well.
 So we started working from there.
 It was a multi-month project.
 You just hear the pure switch noise.
 Nice.
 And it was finally finished in January of this year.
 And getting that off my plate was such a big relief.
 I'm very glad he liked it.
 Oh, my God.
 Dude, this thing is nuts.
 I mean, at first, I thought it would just be a side gig that I would do at home to de-stress on the weekends.
 Last September, I decided to quit my job full-time.
 My friends and boss, they had no idea why I would leave a secure programming job in the Bay Area
 to pursue a career in content creation.
 But it's been working out so far.
 It's left me with a couple of things, I guess.
 One being, you know, maybe I can do more stuff like this that people enjoy and that people watch.
 And then there's also the stress of, how can I top this now?
 Like, I've landed Tfue. What's next for me?
 I guess that works, too.