NOTE: This is based on what I personally learnt and experienced. Therefore, there will be knowledge gaps and I am more than happy to learn from them =) I also hope that this experience will help future engineers and builders =)
V-Notes is a free and open-source Electron desktop app designed to help video learners: both students and working professionals, to learn more effectively when time is limited.
While AI summary generators for YouTube are brilliant at condensing video content, they aren’t flawless. They often fail to capture timestamped notes, mini insights, and visual snapshots; the small but critical details that transcripts alone cannot provide. V-Notes addresses this gap by enabling learners to create and navigate structured notes directly from videos, making knowledge capture faster and more actionable.
This product is primarily for video learners who rely on videos as their main mode of learning. Whether you’re a student tackling online courses or a professional skimming industry talks, V-Notes makes it easier to extract, organize, and revisit key ideas.
As for this guide, it is meant for anyone who wants to understand what it takes to build a product from 0 to 1 and acquire legitimate users. It’s both a behind-the-scenes journey of V-Notes and a practical resource for builders facing similar challenges.
For the technical reasons, click here (’Technical decisions’ part of the FAQ section)
The journey started with a quick prototype powered by AI tooling: