A few weeks ago, I set out to build my first web app from scratch. Not because I had a grand startup idea, or a roadmap to some scalable SaaS. Just a quiet urge to test if I could make something real — and simple — that actually worked.
The result is Nott: a secure, ephemeral note-sharing tool that lets you send sensitive messages which automatically self-destruct after 12 hours. No sign-ups. No notifications. No traces.
At its core, it’s designed for one thing: To help you say “this message will self-destruct” — and mean it.
Why I Built It
We’re surrounded by systems that preserve everything — messages, emails, docs — even when we don’t want them to. But sometimes, what you want is the opposite: something temporary, private, and gone within hours.
That’s where the idea started.
I wasn’t trying to solve all of privacy’s problems. Just one small one — a focused, practical use case for sharing something sensitive without worrying it might resurface later.
So I gave myself some constraints:
- No user accounts
- No backend complexity I couldn’t manage
- Must work from any browser, no installs
- Auto-delete everything after 12 hours
It became a design exercise in minimalism and control.
What It Cost Me (In Time and Money)
In total, Nott cost me about $15–20, and just a few hours of work stretched across several days. The actual build time could’ve been shorter — if I had a fully baked spec from the start.
But like most first-time projects, it didn’t unfold linearly.
I realized late into the process that I hadn’t added something as basic as a “Delete” button. Even server-side cleanup — the logic for destroying expired notes — wasn’t something I planned at the beginning. I discovered the gaps as I built, then circled back to patch them.
In hindsight, much of my time wasn’t spent on writing code, but on figuring out what I wanted to exist.
What I Used
The tech stack was light and modern:
- VS Code for local development
- Firebase for hosting and simple backend logic
- Large Language Models (like Anthropic’s Claude) as coding copilots
- A few npm packages for editor, security, and routing
I intentionally avoided anything requiring auth or complex user flows. That constraint made the app more focused, and gave me space to learn without burning out.
What I Took Away From This
Nott may never become a business, and that’s okay.
The real takeaway was discovering that it’s now entirely possible to build small, useful apps — alone — with minimal cost, and zero ceremony. That the distance between an idea and a working version has shrunk dramatically.
Even with false starts, late-night tweaks, and “oh wait” moments, the feeling of shipping something — however niche — is surprisingly grounding.
And maybe that’s the point.