INDEX / CONSUMER APP
Cold Turkey
A beautifully designed, niche-specific quitting app for vapers that gamifies sobriety with a real-time timer, lives system, mini-games for craving distraction, and social sharing.
▶ WATCH THE SOURCE SEGMENT — I can't believe he gave away these $1M+/year startup ideas01 THE IDEA
Cold Turkey is a purpose-built app to help people quit vaping, taking the 'Zero app for intermittent fasting' playbook and applying it to one of the fastest-growing addiction problems. Rather than a generic habit tracker, it features: a real-time counter showing how long you've been vape-free, a lives system (like a mobile game) that adds stakes to relapses, built-in craving distraction mini-games (e.g. math puzzles) triggered by a single 'I'm craving' button, and social sharing so friends can follow your streak in real-time. The name itself is algorithm-friendly.
Monetization could include premium features (streak restoration, advanced analytics), a peer pledge system where friends bet money on your success, and potentially corporate wellness partnerships. The Zero app (intermittent fasting tracker) is the explicit analog — it has 500,000 five-star App Store reviews by simply making a boring health behavior feel fun and visual. The vaping quit market is validated by huge, active subreddits and real addiction urgency. Greg suggests adding a financial incentive layer where friends can pledge money to reward hitting milestones.
02 THE NUMBERS
$200K – $3M
$20K + 250h
$5K + 60h
8/10
4 · GROWING →
Mobile app development (iOS/Android), Game mechanics / UX design, Community marketing (Reddit, TikTok), Behavioral psychology
03 THE VERDICT
This is the strongest idea in the video. The Zero app analog is proven, the vaping quit market is large and underserved by good design, the name is catchy and algorithm-friendly, and the app can be built cheaply with a small team. The gamification mechanics (lives, craving button, mini-games, social sharing) are well-thought-out and differentiated from boring existing apps. The subreddit community provides a ready-made acquisition channel. Start with iOS, get to 1,000 users, then monetize with a $4.99/month subscription.
04 THE FIELD
- Smoke Freeest. 2013STEADY · ADDED 2026-06-07
CATEGORY LEADER IN SMOKING CESSATION APPS
Comprehensive smoking/vaping cessation tracker with health milestones and money saved calculator.
- QuitNow!est. 2011DECLINING · ADDED 2026-06-07
LEGACY PLAYER, DECLINING ENGAGEMENT
One of the original quit smoking apps with community features; dated UX.
- Kwitest. 2014STEADY · ADDED 2026-06-07
NICHE PLAYER, GAMIFIED APPROACH
Gamified smoking cessation app with character progression; closest design analog but not vaping-specific.