CLOSED

Radiology assistant AI opened · CLOSED after 2 yr

Jung Si-eun, 44 · 2 yr

“Would still do it again. Something is wrong with me. 😭”

I closed after 2 years. No debt remained, just 1 customer.

On the last day, you posted the shutdown notice and turned off the servers. Cash -₩4,873,088, debt ₩0, 0 employees, 1 customer. You settled the last bills and closed the laptop. The business failed, but that time did not disappear.

How it went

1. 2026 · preparing to openJung Si-eun, 43. You have decided to try starting a company in Daegu. No idea, no product yet. Savings ₩21,470,000, employed (₩3,550,000 a month).
2. 8/2026: what now?Start a business: «Radiology assistant AI» — You are going with «Radiology assistant AI». Still no company, no product. Now find out whether the idea is real.
3. 2026 · year 1 beginsUS Rates Rose Again
4. 8/18 · The exchange rate pushed up import billsThe KRW/USD rate rose to 1,389. Servers and subscriptions billed in dollars cost more.
5. 9/2026: what now?Interview 20 people — 7 of 20 said they would pay. 3 only said it would be "nice to have".
6. 9/3 · HeatwaveA heat warning. The air conditioning ran all day. The electricity bill is on your mind.
7. 10/2026: what now?Decide to build it — You decided to build. Validation ends here.
8. 10/13 · Down sickDay three of a cold that will not lift. No time to see a doctor.
9. 11/2026: what now?Build it yourself — You settled on how to build it.
10. 12/2026: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
11. 12/4 · Your mentorYour mentor sent a link to an article. “This sounded like you.”
12. 1/2027: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
13. 1/6 · FamilyAt dinner nobody brought up work. You understood that was a kindness.
14. 1/14 · A competitor movedA big company bolted a similar feature onto its product, free. More customers now ask, “How are you different?”
15. 2/2027: what now?Keep building — Another month the same way. Progress crept up.
16. 3/2027: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
17. 4/2027: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
18. 5/2027: what now?Keep building — Another month the same way. Progress crept up.
19. 5/24 · Funding costs rose againThe US 10-year yield rose to 5.48%. Investors recalculated valuations, and the bank asked for more collateral.
20. 6/2027: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
21. 7/2027: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
22. 7/22 · Down sickA sore throat and a fever. You got through the day in a mask.
23. 8/2027: what now?Keep building — Another month the same way. Progress crept up.
24. US Rates Rose AgainSignals of Fed tightening strengthened the dollar, and this country's funding rates followed. When the KRW/USD rate jumped, costing got complicated again for anyone buying imported ingredients or parts.
25. Year 1 closeRevenue ₩0, loss ₩13,800,000. Your salary put in ₩4,680,000; cash ₩11,970,000.
26. 2027 · year 2 beginsConsumption Froze
27. 8/14 · The exchange rate pushed up import billsThe KRW/USD rate rose to 1,458. Servers and subscriptions billed in dollars cost more.
28. 9/2027: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
29. 10/2027: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
30. 11/2027: what now?Keep building — Another month the same way. Progress crept up.
31. 11/6 · Your mentorAn old mentor called. “What scares you most right now?” they asked.
32. 12/2027: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
33. 1/2028: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
34. 2/2028: what now?Keep building — Another month the same way. Progress crept up.
35. 2/25 · The exchange rate pushed up import billsThe KRW/USD rate rose to 1,458. Servers and subscriptions billed in dollars cost more.
36. 3/2028: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
37. 3/27 · Down sickA sore throat and a fever. You got through the day in a mask.
38. 4/2028: what now?Launch — You pressed launch. 0 sign-ups on day one. You refreshed ten times.
39. 4/17 · Service outageRight after the deploy, login broke. Restored in forty minutes, but customer messages flooded in.
40. 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.
41. 5/8 · Server bill spikeTraffic grew, and the server bill came in far above what you expected.
42. 6/2028: what now?Spread the word through communities and content — No new customers this month. The channel has to change.
43. 6/6 · FamilyYour family packed you lunch. The note said, “Eat properly.”
44. 7/2028: what now?Keep going — Spread the word through communities and content — 1 new customers this month. Few enough to know each one by name.

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