SURVIVOR

Restaurant waitlist & booking SaaS survived 7 yr · SURVIVOR

Hayashi Koji, 32 · 7 yr

“Not dead. Not thriving. Just open.”

Not success, but still here. Year 7.

7 years in, the company is still alive. 136 customers, ¥1,544,899 a month. No funding round and no exit, but the company pays your living. You do not call it success. You just say you are still here.

How it went

1. 2026 · preparing to openHayashi Koji, 26. You have decided to try starting a company in Sapporo and other regions. No idea, no product yet. Savings ¥7,394,849, no job.
2. Debt from day onePersonal debt: ¥57,371 a month for 113 months. It comes out regardless of the company.
3. 8/2026: what now?Start a business: «Overnight fresh-grocery delivery» — You are going with «Overnight fresh-grocery delivery». Still no company, no product. Now find out whether the idea is real.
4. 2026 · year 1 beginsA Quiet Year
5. 9/2026: what now?Interview 20 people — 3 of 20 said they would pay. 11 only said it would be "nice to have".
6. 10/2026: what now?Decide to build it — You decided to build. Validation ends here.
7. 10/29 · A competitor movedA competitor shipped the feature you were preparing, first. Their price is lower.
8. 11/2026: what now?Build it yourself — You settled on how to build it.
9. 12/2026: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
10. 1/2027: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
11. 1/6 · FamilyYou talked with your family for a long time. Someone said, “You come before the money.”
12. 2/2027: what now?Keep building — Another month the same way. Progress crept up.
13. 2/12 · Down sickYou came down with something. You took medicine and pushed through, but could not concentrate.
14. 3/2027: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
15. 4/2027: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
16. 5/2027: what now?Keep building — Another month the same way. Progress crept up.
17. 6/2027: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
18. 6/21 · HeatwaveA heat warning. The air conditioning ran all day. The electricity bill is on your mind.
19. Financing approvedBorrow from family ¥2,000,000 · 0.0%/yr · 36 months
20. 7/2027: what now?Apply: Borrow from family — You waited for the Borrow from family decision. Borrow from family ¥2,000,000 approved.
21. 7/26 · A competitor movedA big company bolted a similar feature onto its product, free. More customers now ask, “How are you different?”
22. 8/2027: what now?Launch — You pressed launch. 43 sign-ups on day one. You refreshed ten times.
23. A Quiet YearNothing much happened. You got up at the same time every day and did the same work. That repetition can build something, or wear a person down.
24. Year 1 closeRevenue ¥0, loss ¥893,783. Cash ¥4,763,882.
25. 2027 · year 2 beginsA Quiet Year
26. 8/24 · FamilyAt dinner nobody brought up work. You understood that was a kindness.
27. 8/28 · Your mentorAn old mentor called. “What scares you most right now?” they asked.
28. 9/2027: what now?Spread the word through communities and content — 20 new customers this month. While the number climbs, it looks like a company.
29. 9/15 · Oil reached the cost baseBrent rose to $129 a barrel. Quotes for packaging and freight are not what they were last month. You redid the cost sheet.
30. 10/2027: what now?Keep going — Spread the word through communities and content — 15 new customers this month. A post drew questions, and the questions turned into sign-ups.
31. 10/30 · Down sickDay three of a cold that will not lift. No time to see a doctor.
32. Sales is why customers stopped growingDefer for free — You spent nothing and will reconsider at another opportunity.
33. 11/3 · Churn roseCancellations this week were double the usual. Many customers abandoned the payment page.
34. The numbers are inChange direction — You pivoted to «Dev agency with its own product» and apologised to the customers who stayed.
35. 12/23 · Loan payment dayLoan payment day. ¥55,556 in principal and interest left the account. The balance is ¥1,722,222.
36. 1/2028: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
37. 1/24 · A competitor movedA company solving the same problem announced a funding round. Nobody in the comments mentioned you.
38. 2/2028: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
39. 3/2028: what now?Keep building — Another month the same way. Progress crept up.
40. 3/7 · Funding costs rose againThe US 10-year yield rose to 5.25%. Investors recalculated valuations, and the bank asked for more collateral.
41. 3/27 · Selected for a grant programSelected for a government support program. The grant arrives next month; the reporting starts this week.
42. 4/2028: what now?Launch — You pressed launch. 0 sign-ups on day one. You refreshed ten times.
43. 4/24 · An investor showed interestAn investor asked for a meeting next week. “I want a closer look at who is building this,” they said.
44. A specialist could unblock the productDefer for free — You spent nothing and will reconsider at another opportunity.
45. 5/20 · Demo dayYou presented at demo day. The questions were sharp, but the applause sounded genuine.
46. 5/22 · Rate hike newsThe news said the policy rate went up. You reread the terms on the existing loan.
47. 6/2028: what now?Incorporate — The company is registered. Your business card now says CEO.
48. 6/19 · Server bill spikeA test server you forgot to switch off had been running all month.
49. 7/2028: what now?Spread the word through communities and content — 1 new customers this month. Few enough to know each one by name.
50. 7/12 · Service outageRight after the deploy, login broke. Restored in forty minutes, but customer messages flooded in.
51. 7/17 · Loan payment dayLoan payment day. ¥55,556 in principal and interest left the account. The balance is ¥1,333,333.
52. AI redrew the marketAdopt fully — You learned the new tools. The same work took half the time, and the quote got smaller. It cost a few nights of learning.
53. A Quiet YearNothing much happened. You got up at the same time every day and did the same work. That repetition can build something, or wear a person down.
54. Year 2 closeRevenue ¥6,398,139, operating profit ¥2,737,162. Cash ¥2,779,729.
55. 2028 · year 3 beginsGlobal Energy Prices Surged · The Tech Investment Cycle Came Back
56. 8/18 · A competitor movedA company solving the same problem announced a funding round. Nobody in the comments mentioned you.
57. AI redrew the marketAI tools changed the industry’s cost and speed. Companies that adopted them move cheap and fast; the rest pay twice for the same customer.
58. 9/18 · Security vulnerabilityAn outside researcher reported a vulnerability. You have to check whether personal data leaked.
59. 10/28 · Your mentorAn old mentor called. “What scares you most right now?” they asked.
60. The “¥2,000,000 a month or your money back” courseBlock the ad — You block it and another account posts the same ad. The money is still in your account.
61. 11/21 · Global growth forecasts fellWith the IMF and World Bank forecasts diverging, global growth came down to 1.7%. Replies to overseas inquiries got slower.
62. 12/15 · Server bill spikeTraffic grew, and the server bill came in far above what you expected.
63. 1/17 · Loan payment dayLoan payment day. ¥55,556 in principal and interest left the account. The balance is ¥1,000,000.
64. 1/20 · Demo dayYou presented at demo day. The questions were sharp, but the applause sounded genuine.
65. Do you pivot?Full pivot — Half the existing customers left. The new customers have not arrived. The only thing left in the meeting room was the question of whether this was right.
66. 2/5 · Service outageAn alert at 3 a.m.: the disk was full. Fixed before morning; nobody noticed.
67. 2/9 · An investor showed interestAn investor asked for a meeting next week. “I want a closer look at who is building this,” they said.
68. 2/2 · The tax went unpaidOn the due date the account was empty. ¥1,407,303 went into arrears, with a late penalty, and your credit grade dropped a notch.
69. Tax in arrearsApply for instalments — Approved. ¥234,551 a month from now on.
70. 3/16 · Down sickDay three of a cold that will not lift. No time to see a doctor.
71. You are short of moneyHold on — You closed the loan papers. Instead you cancelled subscriptions, cut what you could do without and pushed the next payment date. Holding on is also a decision.
72. 4/21 · Instalment plan cancelledYou missed this month’s instalment. The plan is cancelled; penalties run again on the ¥1,172,752 still owed.
73. Tax in arrearsApply for instalments — Turned down: this is not the first time you fell behind.
74. The runway is running outTake a job and keep the company on the side — An interviewer asked what you had been doing all this time. The salary started again, and the product became something that happens after 11 p.m.
75. 5/3 · Covered in an articleAn industry outlet wrote about the product. Sign-up inquiries rose a little.
76. 5/26 · A competitor movedA company solving the same problem announced a funding round. Nobody in the comments mentioned you.
77. Tax in arrearsPay it off with a card loan — The tax is cleared. Now you owe the card company instead.
78. 6/10 · Patent warning letterA certified letter arrived claiming possible patent infringement. A lawyer needs to review it.
79. 6/26 · FamilyAt dinner nobody brought up work. You understood that was a kindness.
80. 7/19 · Global growth forecasts fellWith the IMF and World Bank forecasts diverging, global growth came down to 1.7%. Replies to overseas inquiries got slower.
81. 7/20 · Loan payment dayLoan payment day. ¥95,928 in principal and interest left the account. The balance is ¥1,821,330.
82. Keep going like this?Change concept: Restaurant waitlist & booking SaaS — New name, new lineup. A few regulars said they liked it better before; new faces started walking in.
83. Global Energy Prices SurgedTension in the Middle East pushed international crude prices up. Ships loaded with oil could not pass, and freight and packaging costs rose with them. A war in the news became a number on next month's cost sheet.
84. The Tech Investment Cycle Came BackSpending on AI infrastructure and software increased, and chip and IT export figures improved. Even with recession talk everywhere, only technology budgets were moving in another direction.
85. Year 3 closeRevenue ¥9,424,244, operating profit ¥3,725,281. Cash ¥820,789.
86. 2029 · year 4 beginsFake Investor · Chinese Demand Cooled
87. 8/6 · Churn roseCancellations this week were double the usual. Many customers abandoned the payment page.
88. 8/28 · A large contractA mid-sized company proposed a pilot contract. The reference came before the revenue.
89. 9/15 · Server bill spikeA test server you forgot to switch off had been running all month.
90. 9/23 · Demo dayYou presented at demo day. The questions were sharp, but the applause sounded genuine.
91. 10/4 · Selected for a grant programSelected for a government support program. The grant arrives next month; the reporting starts this week.
92. 10/23 · An investor showed interestAn investor asked for a meeting next week. “I want a closer look at who is building this,” they said.
93. BurnoutKeep going — You kept going. The product moved forward and your body moved back. Nobody wrote that cost on the income statement.
94. 11/6 · A competitor movedA competitor shipped the feature you were preparing, first. Their price is lower.
95. 12/7 · Security vulnerabilityAn outside researcher reported a vulnerability. You have to check whether personal data leaked.
96. 12/10 · FamilyAt dinner nobody brought up work. You understood that was a kindness.
97. 1/15 · Personal data requestA customer asked for disclosure and deletion of their personal data. You checked the procedure again.
98. 1/22 · A signal from your bodyYour chest felt tight, so you went to the emergency room. The result was “overwork.”
99. The competitor made it freeFocus on differentiated features — You built a feature the large company would struggle to copy. Customers stayed for that one feature.
100. 2/3 · A large contractA mid-sized company proposed a pilot contract. The reference came before the revenue.
101. 2/9 · Income tax paidYou paid ¥832,795 of tax on last year’s profit. The year is over; the bill arrived today.
102. 3/10 · Loan payment dayLoan payment day. ¥95,928 in principal and interest left the account. The balance is ¥1,152,679.
103. 3/15 · Demo dayYou presented at demo day. The questions were sharp, but the applause sounded genuine.
104. 4/6 · Global growth forecasts fellWith the IMF and World Bank forecasts diverging, global growth came down to 1.2%. Replies to overseas inquiries got slower.
105. 4/8 · Down sickA sore throat and a fever. You got through the day in a mask.
106. “We just need your name on it”Send them away — They left a card: “Call if you change your mind.” There was no company name on it.
107. 5/19 · A competitor movedA big company bolted a similar feature onto its product, free. More customers now ask, “How are you different?”
108. 6/21 · Server bill spikeThe free cloud credits ran out. From this month the bill is the real number.
109. 6/25 · Security vulnerabilityAn outside researcher reported a vulnerability. You have to check whether personal data leaked.
110. 7/9 · Churn roseCancellations this week were double the usual. Many customers abandoned the payment page.
111. 7/16 · HeatwaveA heat warning. The air conditioning ran all day. The electricity bill is on your mind.
112. An acquisition offer came inDecline and keep going — You turned the offer down. The investor said, "That is brave." You could not tell whether it was praise or a warning.
113. Fake InvestorA man who said he would invest presented a contract at a law office. Before sending the principal, though, he asks for a consulting fee of ¥300,000 first. Real investors do not take money first.
114. Chinese Demand CooledA prolonged slump in Chinese domestic demand and real estate lowered Asia's export outlook. Clients who bought raw materials cut orders, and domestic consumption turned cautious as well.
115. Year 4 closeRevenue ¥7,347,886, operating profit ¥4,684,643. Cash ¥2,560,663.
116. 2030 · year 5 beginsConsumption Froze
117. 8/7 · Rate hike newsThe news said the policy rate went up. You reread the terms on the existing loan.
118. 8/13 · FamilyYour family packed you lunch. The note said, “Eat properly.”
119. 9/13 · The bank asked for documentsThe loan extension paperwork arrived: financial statements and copies of the consumption tax returns, please.
120. 10/11 · A large contractA mid-sized company proposed a pilot contract. The reference came before the revenue.
121. Priorities for the next three monthsImprove quality — You reread the complaint log from the start and fixed the most common one this month.
122. 11/4 · Loan payment dayLoan payment day. ¥40,372 in principal and interest left the account. The balance is ¥684,449.
123. 11/12 · Service outageThe payment processor went down for two hours. Not your fault, but you wrote the apology.
124. 12/29 · An investor showed interestAn investor asked for a meeting next week. “I want a closer look at who is building this,” they said.
125. 1/30 · Demo dayYou presented at demo day. The questions were sharp, but the applause sounded genuine.
126. 2/13 · FamilyAt dinner nobody brought up work. You understood that was a kindness.
127. 2/24 · Income tax paidYou paid ¥1,696,771 of tax on last year’s profit. The year is over; the bill arrived today.
128. 3/4 · The exchange rate pushed up import billsThe USD/JPY rate rose to 159. Servers and subscriptions billed in dollars cost more.
129. 3/18 · Personal data requestA customer asked for disclosure and deletion of their personal data. You checked the procedure again.
130. 4/14 · Covered in an articleAn industry outlet wrote about the product. Sign-up inquiries rose a little.
131. Priorities for the next three monthsImprove quality — You fixed the small annoyances one by one. Customers did not mention the change, but they came back.
132. 5/11 · Rate hike newsThe news said the policy rate went up. You reread the terms on the existing loan.
133. 6/16 · A large contractA mid-sized company proposed a pilot contract. The reference came before the revenue.
134. 6/26 · An investor showed interestAn investor asked for a meeting next week. “I want a closer look at who is building this,” they said.
135. 7/7 · Demo dayYou presented at demo day. The questions were sharp, but the applause sounded genuine.
136. Consumption FrozeMore people cut card spending and nights out. The streets are quiet even at weekends. A recession reaches the takings before it reaches the news.
137. Year 5 closeRevenue ¥10,917,643, operating profit ¥6,823,347. Cash ¥8,215,703.
138. 2031 · year 6 beginsRates Rose
139. 8/29 · Server bill spikeTraffic grew, and the server bill came in far above what you expected.
140. 9/24 · Service outageRight after the deploy, login broke. Restored in forty minutes, but customer messages flooded in.
141. 9/29 · A major customer leftA customer that made up a large share of revenue cancelled. The reason was a budget cut.
142. 10/22 · The bank asked for documentsThe bank asked for revenue evidence and the business plan again. One line said they would review whether the existing limit can be maintained.
143. Not registered for Japan’s invoice systemStay unregistered — Two customers said they would “consider it in next year’s budget” and did not renew.
144. 11/27 · Security vulnerabilityAn outside researcher reported a vulnerability. You have to check whether personal data leaked.
145. 12/17 · Loan payment dayLoan payment day. ¥40,372 in principal and interest left the account. The balance is ¥232,644.
146. 1/12 · A competitor movedA big company bolted a similar feature onto its product, free. More customers now ask, “How are you different?”
147. Priorities for the next three monthsImprove quality — You rewrote the notices around the questions people ask most. The same questions dropped off noticeably.
148. 2/10 · A large contractA mid-sized company proposed a pilot contract. The reference came before the revenue.
149. 2/14 · Churn roseCancellations this week were double the usual. Many customers abandoned the payment page.
150. 3/5 · Covered in an articleAn industry outlet wrote about the product. Sign-up inquiries rose a little.
151. 4/20 · A signal from your bodyYour chest felt tight, so you went to the emergency room. The result was “overwork.”
152. 4/22 · Server bill spikeA test server you forgot to switch off had been running all month.
153. 5/12 · Service outageRight after the deploy, login broke. Restored in forty minutes, but customer messages flooded in.
154. 5/17 · Your mentorLunch with an old mentor. “Forget the numbers. Are you sleeping?”
155. 6/24 · The exchange rate pushed up import billsThe USD/JPY rate rose to 172. Servers and subscriptions billed in dollars cost more.
156. 6/26 · FamilyYour family packed you lunch. The note said, “Eat properly.”
157. 7/21 · The bank asked for documentsThe bank asked for revenue evidence and the business plan again. One line said they would review whether the existing limit can be maintained.
158. Priorities for the next three monthsImprove quality — You reread the complaint log from the start and fixed the most common one this month.
159. Rates RoseMarket rates rose. Variable-rate loans cost more, and so does any new borrowing. More people stood at bank counters tapping calculators.
160. Year 6 closeRevenue ¥12,447,783, operating profit ¥6,830,673. Cash ¥14,333,081.
161. 2032 · year 7 beginsLabor-shortage bankruptcies kept piling up
162. 8/10 · A large contractA mid-sized company proposed a pilot contract. The reference came before the revenue.
163. 9/16 · Security vulnerabilityAn outside researcher reported a vulnerability. You have to check whether personal data leaked.
164. 10/20 · Churn roseCancellations this week were double the usual. Many customers abandoned the payment page.
165. 10/26 · Down sickDay three of a cold that will not lift. No time to see a doctor.
166. 11/23 · Service outageAn alert at 3 a.m.: the disk was full. Fixed before morning; nobody noticed.
167. 12/5 · A major customer leftA customer that made up a large share of revenue cancelled. The reason was a budget cut.
168. 1/15 · A competitor movedA big company bolted a similar feature onto its product, free. More customers now ask, “How are you different?”
169. 1/23 · Demo dayYou presented at demo day. The questions were sharp, but the applause sounded genuine.
170. Priorities for the next three monthsImprove quality — You fixed the small annoyances one by one. Customers did not mention the change, but they came back.
171. 2/21 · Patent warning letterA certified letter arrived claiming possible patent infringement. A lawyer needs to review it.
172. 2/27 · The exchange rate pushed up import billsThe USD/JPY rate rose to 170. Servers and subscriptions billed in dollars cost more.
173. 3/12 · Covered in an articleAn industry outlet wrote about the product. Sign-up inquiries rose a little.
174. 3/27 · Security vulnerabilityAn outside researcher reported a vulnerability. You have to check whether personal data leaked.
175. 4/7 · Down sickDay three of a cold that will not lift. No time to see a doctor.
176. 4/10 · The bank asked for documentsThe loan extension paperwork arrived: financial statements and copies of the consumption tax returns, please.
177. 5/3 · Churn roseCancellations this week were double the usual. Many customers abandoned the payment page.
178. 5/5 · Service outageAn alert at 3 a.m.: the disk was full. Fixed before morning; nobody noticed.
179. 6/9 · An investor showed interestAn investor asked for a meeting next week. “I want a closer look at who is building this,” they said.
180. 7/21 · Demo dayYou presented at demo day. The questions were sharp, but the applause sounded genuine.
181. Year seven: what now?Focus on profitability — You stopped hiring and cut costs. Growth slowed, and the company began to breathe on its own.

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