3 weeks later, I built about 6 tools with Claude Code
On 24 December 2024, while most people were wrapping presents, I opened my laptop and typed my first command into Claude Code.
Three weeks later, I’ve built over 8 internal tools. No coding background. No developer on speed dial. Just me, a baby who doesn’t care about my shipping schedule, and an AI that doesn’t judge my questions.
This isn’t a flex. It’s documentation. Because I want more non-technical founders should know this is possible.
Wait, What is Claude Code?
Imagine you could talk to a really smart builder who lives inside your computer.
You tell them what you want: “I want a form where my family can write down our yearly reflections, and when we click submit, it saves to our Notion.”
They ask a few questions. Then they build it. Right there. On your computer.
That’s Claude Code.
It’s a tool from Anthropic that runs in your terminal (that little box with the blinking cursor that used to terrify me). You describe what you want in plain English, and Claude figures out how to make it happen.
You don’t write code. You have a conversation.
Why I Started
I’m not a developer. I’ve never pretended to be one. But I am a builder. I duct-tape systems together with Zapier, make things work with Notion, and Google my way through problems until something ships.
The difference with Claude Code? I stopped being limited by what no-code tools could do. I started building exactly what I needed.
My First Tool: Family Yearly Reflections
Every year, my family does reflections — usually on a road trip or while travelling. We talk about what went well, what we learned, what we want to focus on next year.
The problem? We’d lose track of them. Scribbled in notebooks. Buried in random docs. Never in the same place twice.
So I thought: what if we had a simple form that saved everything to Notion? Same questions each year. Easy to compare. One place to hold it all.
That became my first Claude Code project.
What I built:
- A simple form with our reflection questions
- Dropdown for the year (so we can go back and add old ones)
- Submit button that sends everything straight to a Notion database
- Form clears after submission
What I actually spent time on:
- Debugging the Notion API connection (this took the longest)
- Little UX details — making the year a dropdown instead of a text field, clearing the form after submit
- Figuring out what I actually wanted before building
The big lesson?
Scope it well at the start.
I went in knowing exactly what “done” looked like: a place to hold our family’s yearly reflections with the same questions each year so we can compare.
That clarity made everything easier. When I got tempted to add features (“what if it also tracked monthly goals?”), I could ask: does this serve the original purpose?
Usually the answer was no. Ship the simple version. Add complexity later.
What Else I’ve Built
After the reflections form worked, I got curious. What else could I build?
Personal Brand Dashboard
I had analytics scattered everywhere — Kajabi for email subscribers, Publer for social stats, LinkedIn for newsletter numbers. I wanted one place to see if I was on track for my goals.
So I built a private dashboard. Six pages: email growth, newsletter stats, social overview, sales tracking, financials, and an upload hub. Total build time? 2-3 hours, including baby breaks. You can read it more here (I’m in a documentation mode rn).
Tools for TTV Members
I’m always thinking about how to make content creation easier for busy, smart people. That’s my community. So I’ve started building internal tools that solve problems I hear about repeatedly.
Some are simple. Some are more complex. All of them started with: what’s the annoying thing I wish was easier?
5 Tips for Non-Developers Using Claude Code
1. Scope before you start (Use Plan Mode)
In Claude Code, start with Plan Mode and work backwards from the outcome, not the features.
Define the one thing it needs to do. For my yearly reflections tool: a single place with the same questions each year so we can compare over time.
2. Think like a product manager, not a developer
Describe what you want and why, not how to build it.
Bad: “Create a POST request to the Notion API with authentication headers.”
Good: “When someone submits the form, I want their answers to appear as a new row in my Notion database.”
Let Claude figure out the technical stuff. Your job is clarity on the outcome.
3. Start embarrassingly small
Your first version should do one thing. Not three things. Not “the full vision.” One thing that works.
You can add complexity later. But you can’t add complexity to something that doesn’t exist because you got overwhelmed trying to build everything at once.
4. Always add context
The more Claude knows about what you’re trying to do and why, the better the output.
Don’t assume it remembers everything from earlier in the conversation. If something isn’t working, explain:
- What you expected to happen
- What’s actually happening
- What you’ve already tried
Context is kindness. To Claude and to yourself.
5. Set up a folder locally
Keep your projects organised on your computer from the start.
Create a folder. Name it something obvious. Save your work there.
Future you… the one debugging something at 11pm, this version of you will thank you
The Real Point about Claude Code
I’m not sharing this to say “look what I built.”
I’m sharing this because I spent years thinking I needed a developer to make custom tools. I thought building software was for technical people.
It’s not. Not anymore.
If you can clearly describe what you want, you can build it.
And honestly? The hardest part isn’t the technology. It’s getting clear on what you actually need.
That’s the skill. That’s the unlock.
What’s Next: I’m crazy building things with Claude Code Right Now
I’m still building mode. Every tool I make for myself, I’m thinking about how it might help TTV members.
Because if content creation can be easier — if the admin, the tracking, the repetitive stuff can be handled by tools we build ourselves — then we get more time for the work that actually matters.
More on that soon.
For now: if you’ve been sitting on an idea thinking you need to learn to code first, you don’t.
Open Claude Code. Describe what you want. See what happens.
That’s how I spent Christmas Eve.
No regrets. 