ZOMBIE

Vegan skincare D2C brand survived 7 yr · ZOMBIE

Elena Johnson, 40 · 7 yr

“Hard, but I’d do it again. It’s mine.”

The company is alive. So why am I still doing this?

The company is alive. Growth has stopped. Revenue barely keeps up with costs, and there is no next step in sight. Cash $92,927, debt $0, 0 employees, 39 customers. You go to the office every day, but you are not sure why. The reason you cannot close and the reason you keep going feel like the same thing.

How it went

1. 2026 · preparing to openElena Johnson, 34. You have decided to try starting a company in Chicago. No idea, no product yet. Savings $86,811, employed ($4,617 a month).
2. 5/2026: what now?Start a business: «AI call-centre agent» — You are going with «AI call-centre agent». Still no company, no product. Now find out whether the idea is real.
3. 2026 · year 1 beginsUS Rates Rose Again · Chinese Demand Cooled
4. 5/25 · Down sickDay three of a cold that will not lift. No time to see a doctor.
5. 6/2026: what now?Interview 20 people — 6 of 20 said they would pay. 8 only said it would be "nice to have".
6. 7/2026: what now?Decide to build it — You decided to build. Validation ends here.
7. 7/23 · FamilyYou talked with your family for a long time. Someone said, “You come before the money.”
8. 8/2026: what now?Build it yourself — You settled on how to build it.
9. 9/2026: what now?Quit your job — You quit. The next morning, not having to go to work felt strange.
10. 9/24 · A competitor movedA competitor shipped the feature you were preparing, first. Their price is lower.
11. 9/29 · Your mentorAn old mentor called. “What scares you most right now?” they asked.
12. 10/2026: what now?Keep building — Another month the same way. Progress crept up.
13. 11/2026: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
14. 12/2026: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
15. 1/2027: what now?Keep building — Another month the same way. Progress crept up.
16. 1/22 · FamilyAt dinner nobody brought up work. You understood that was a kindness.
17. 2/2027: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
18. 3/2027: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
19. 4/2027: what now?Launch — You pressed launch. 0 sign-ups on day one. You refreshed ten times.
20. 4/12 · Server bill spikeA test server you forgot to switch off had been running all month.
21. The “$20,000 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.
22. US Rates Rose AgainSignals of Fed tightening strengthened the dollar, and this country's funding rates followed. When the USD rate jumped, costing got complicated again for anyone buying imported ingredients or parts.
23. 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.
24. Year 1 closeRevenue $0, loss $18,217. Cash $49,502.
25. 2027 · year 2 beginsA Quiet Year
26. 5/12 · Funding costs rose againThe US 10-year yield rose to 5.76%. Investors recalculated valuations, and the bank asked for more collateral.
27. 5/20 · A competitor movedA competitor shipped the feature you were preparing, first. Their price is lower.
28. 6/2027: what now?Spread the word through communities and content — 1 new customers this month. Few enough to know each one by name.
29. 7/2027: what now?Keep going — Spread the word through communities and content — 1 new customers this month. Few enough to know each one by name.
30. 7/15 · Down sickDay three of a cold that will not lift. No time to see a doctor.
31. The numbers are inChange direction — You pivoted to «Authenticated luxury resale» and apologised to the customers who stayed.
32. 9/2027: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
33. 9/24 · FamilyYou talked with your family for a long time. Someone said, “You come before the money.”
34. 10/2027: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
35. 11/2027: what now?Launch — You pressed launch. 87 sign-ups on day one. You refreshed ten times.
36. 11/6 · Security vulnerabilityAn outside researcher reported a vulnerability. You have to check whether personal data leaked.
37. 11/9 · A competitor movedA big company bolted a similar feature onto its product, free. More customers now ask, “How are you different?”
38. 12/2027: what now?Spread the word through communities and content — 29 new customers this month. While the number climbs, it looks like a company.
39. 12/19 · Service outageThe payment processor went down for two hours. Not your fault, but you wrote the apology.
40. 12/30 · A parent collapsedThe call came: your father had collapsed. In the hospital corridor you rewrote the week.
41. Who will care for your father?Share it with siblings — Everyone had their reasons. In the end most of it fell to you.
42. 1/2028: what now?Incorporate — The company is registered. Your business card now says CEO.
43. 1/26 · Personal data requestA customer asked for disclosure and deletion of their personal data. You checked the procedure again.
44. 1/14 · Your partner lost their jobNoah was let go. Unemployment benefit will last a few months, but less is coming into the house.
45. Sales is why customers stopped growingDefer for free — You spent nothing and will reconsider at another opportunity.
46. 2/5 · Patent warning letterA cease-and-desist letter arrived claiming possible patent infringement. A lawyer needs to review it.
47. 3/30 · Your mentorLunch with an old mentor. “Forget the numbers. Are you sleeping?”
48. 4/22 · Oil reached the cost baseBrent rose to $122 a barrel. Quotes for packaging and freight are not what they were last month. You redid the cost sheet.
49. You are short of moneyHold on — Instead of the bank you called suppliers and asked for a month’s grace. Two said yes, one said no.
50. 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.
51. Year 2 closeRevenue $138,402, operating profit $3,623. Cash $13,911.
52. 2028 · year 3 beginsRates Rose · The Supply Chain Broke
53. 5/14 · Security vulnerabilityAn outside researcher reported a vulnerability. You have to check whether personal data leaked.
54. 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.
55. 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.
56. 6/19 · Server bill spikeA test server you forgot to switch off had been running all month.
57. 7/18 · Service outageThe payment processor went down for two hours. Not your fault, but you wrote the apology.
58. 7/22 · A signal from your bodyYour chest felt tight, so you went to the emergency room. The result was “overwork.”
59. 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.
60. 8/12 · Funding costs rose againThe US 10-year yield rose to 5.95%. Investors recalculated valuations, and the bank asked for more collateral.
61. 8/22 · Covered in an articleAn industry outlet wrote about the product. Sign-up inquiries rose a little.
62. 8/11 · A death in the familyYour father passed away. You set an auto-reply: away for a few days for family reasons.
63. Your father’s funeralA full funeral — Three days of mourners. Faces you had not seen in years.
64. 9/16 · HeatwaveA heat warning. The air conditioning ran all day. The electricity bill is on your mind.
65. 10/8 · Your mentorLunch with an old mentor. “Forget the numbers. Are you sleeping?”
66. BurnoutTake two weeks off — You did not open the laptop for two weeks. When you came back, Slack had 412 unread messages. Three were urgent.
67. 11/6 · Churn roseCancellations this week were double the usual. Many customers abandoned the payment page.
68. 11/11 · FamilyYou talked with your family for a long time. Someone said, “You come before the money.”
69. 12/3 · Down sickA sore throat and a fever. You got through the day in a mask.
70. 1/9 · Service outageAn alert at 3 a.m.: the disk was full. Fixed before morning; nobody noticed.
71. Keep going like this?Change concept: Vegan skincare D2C brand — New name, new lineup. A few regulars said they liked it better before; new faces started walking in.
72. 2/10 · Patent warning letterA cease-and-desist letter arrived claiming possible patent infringement. A lawyer needs to review it.
73. 4/13 · A competitor movedA company solving the same problem announced a funding round. Nobody in the comments mentioned you.
74. 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.
75. Rates RoseMarket rates rose. Variable-rate loans cost more, and so does any new borrowing. More people stood at bank counters tapping calculators.
76. The Supply Chain BrokeDeliveries of what you ordered slipped by two months, and the alternative supplier quoted 20% more. Not holding inventory became a weakness this time.
77. Year 3 closeRevenue $239,184, operating profit $55,977. Cash $50,264.
78. 2029 · year 4 beginsThe Tech Investment Cycle Came Back
79. 5/11 · Security vulnerabilityAn outside researcher reported a vulnerability. You have to check whether personal data leaked.
80. 5/27 · FamilyYou talked with your family for a long time. Someone said, “You come before the money.”
81. 6/9 · Server bill spikeThe free cloud credits ran out. From this month the bill is the real number.
82. 6/21 · Churn roseCancellations this week were double the usual. Many customers abandoned the payment page.
83. 7/14 · Overseas orders came backGlobal growth rose to 3.8%. An overseas partner was the first to ask about next quarter’s volume.
84. 7/26 · Your mentorLunch with an old mentor. “Forget the numbers. Are you sleeping?”
85. 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.
86. 8/25 · HeatwaveA heat warning. The air conditioning ran all day. The electricity bill is on your mind.
87. 10/12 · A signal from your bodyYour chest felt tight, so you went to the emergency room. The result was “overwork.”
88. 10/15 · Service outageThe payment processor went down for two hours. Not your fault, but you wrote the apology.
89. Customer data leakedReport it and notify customers now — You published an apology. Some left; some wrote that they were staying because you were honest.
90. 11/21 · Funding costs rose againThe US 10-year yield rose to 6.81%. Investors recalculated valuations, and the bank asked for more collateral.
91. 11/22 · Down sickYou came down with something. You took medicine and pushed through, but could not concentrate.
92. 12/28 · Security vulnerabilityAn outside researcher reported a vulnerability. You have to check whether personal data leaked.
93. 1/8 · FamilyYour family packed you lunch. The note said, “Eat properly.”
94. 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.
95. 2/14 · Your mentorYour mentor sent a link to an article. “This sounded like you.”
96. 3/5 · Overseas orders came backGlobal growth rose to 3.8%. An overseas partner was the first to ask about next quarter’s volume.
97. 3/13 · Personal data requestA customer asked for disclosure and deletion of their personal data. You checked the procedure again.
98. Priorities for the next three monthsImprove quality — You rewrote the notices around the questions people ask most. The same questions dropped off noticeably.
99. 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.
100. Year 4 closeRevenue $50,015, operating profit $13,174. Cash $42,205.
101. 2030 · year 5 begins3 A.M., Your Heart Was Racing · Investor Meeting
102. 5/24 · Churn roseCancellations this week were double the usual. Many customers abandoned the payment page.
103. 6/29 · HeatwaveA heat warning. The air conditioning ran all day. The electricity bill is on your mind.
104. 7/7 · Patent warning letterA cease-and-desist letter arrived claiming possible patent infringement. A lawyer needs to review it.
105. 7/26 · Down sickDay three of a cold that will not lift. No time to see a doctor.
106. 8/23 · A signal from your bodyYour chest felt tight, so you went to the emergency room. The result was “overwork.”
107. 8/30 · Funding costs rose againThe US 10-year yield rose to 7.14%. Investors recalculated valuations, and the bank asked for more collateral.
108. 10/5 · Service outageAn alert at 3 a.m.: the disk was full. Fixed before morning; nobody noticed.
109. Priorities for the next three monthsImprove quality — You reread the complaint log from the start and fixed the most common one this month.
110. 11/15 · Personal data requestA customer asked for disclosure and deletion of their personal data. You checked the procedure again.
111. 11/22 · Your mentorLunch with an old mentor. “Forget the numbers. Are you sleeping?”
112. 12/12 · Churn roseCancellations this week were double the usual. Many customers abandoned the payment page.
113. 1/7 · A competitor movedA competitor shipped the feature you were preparing, first. Their price is lower.
114. 1/16 · Security vulnerabilityAn outside researcher reported a vulnerability. You have to check whether personal data leaked.
115. 2/7 · Server bill spikeThe free cloud credits ran out. From this month the bill is the real number.
116. 2/25 · A signal from your bodyYour chest felt tight, so you went to the emergency room. The result was “overwork.”
117. 3/3 · Funding costs rose againThe US 10-year yield rose to 7.14%. Investors recalculated valuations, and the bank asked for more collateral.
118. 3/9 · Down sickDay three of a cold that will not lift. No time to see a doctor.
119. 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.
120. 3 A.M., Your Heart Was RacingYou were alone in the office. Your chest was tight and your hands shook. The hospital said "stress." You thought you had to go in again tomorrow.
121. Investor MeetingAn investor who said they were interested booked a meeting. The questions were sharp. "Why this market, why now?" You gave the answer you had prepared for 30 minutes, and the investor nodded.
122. Year 5 closeRevenue $40,346, operating profit $13,207. Cash $64,309.
123. 2031 · year 6 beginsA Competitor Copied You
124. 5/25 · Personal data requestA customer asked for disclosure and deletion of their personal data. You checked the procedure again.
125. 6/18 · Churn roseCancellations this week were double the usual. Many customers abandoned the payment page.
126. 7/14 · Service outageRight after the deploy, login broke. Restored in forty minutes, but customer messages flooded in.
127. 7/25 · Security vulnerabilityAn outside researcher reported a vulnerability. You have to check whether personal data leaked.
128. 8/9 · Covered in an articleAn industry outlet wrote about the product. Sign-up inquiries rose a little.
129. 9/14 · FamilyYour family packed you lunch. The note said, “Eat properly.”
130. 10/19 · A signal from your bodyYour chest felt tight, so you went to the emergency room. The result was “overwork.”
131. Priorities for the next three monthsImprove quality — You rewrote the notices around the questions people ask most. The same questions dropped off noticeably.
132. 11/3 · Server bill spikeTraffic grew, and the server bill came in far above what you expected.
133. 11/12 · Overseas orders came backGlobal growth rose to 4.2%. An overseas partner was the first to ask about next quarter’s volume.
134. 12/20 · Your mentorYour mentor sent a link to an article. “This sounded like you.”
135. 12/27 · Churn roseCancellations this week were double the usual. Many customers abandoned the payment page.
136. 1/7 · Funding costs rose againThe US 10-year yield rose to 7.47%. Investors recalculated valuations, and the bank asked for more collateral.
137. 1/9 · Service outageThe payment processor went down for two hours. Not your fault, but you wrote the apology.
138. 3/7 · Down sickA sore throat and a fever. You got through the day in a mask.
139. 4/15 · Security vulnerabilityAn outside researcher reported a vulnerability. You have to check whether personal data leaked.
140. Priorities for the next three monthsImprove quality — You reread the complaint log from the start and fixed the most common one this month.
141. A Competitor Copied YouA competitor duplicated your landing page and features almost exactly. The parts you can contest legally are fewer than you expected. The market remembers who does it well more than who did it first.
142. Year 6 closeRevenue $33,961, operating profit $9,517. Cash $81,402.
143. 2032 · year 7 beginsA Big Company Launched It for Free
144. 5/18 · A signal from your bodyYour chest felt tight, so you went to the emergency room. The result was “overwork.”
145. 6/20 · FamilyYour family packed you lunch. The note said, “Eat properly.”
146. 7/6 · Overseas orders came backGlobal growth rose to 3.9%. An overseas partner was the first to ask about next quarter’s volume.
147. 8/16 · Funding costs rose againThe US 10-year yield rose to 7.31%. Investors recalculated valuations, and the bank asked for more collateral.
148. 8/23 · Service outageThe payment processor went down for two hours. Not your fault, but you wrote the apology.
149. 9/6 · Server bill spikeThe free cloud credits ran out. From this month the bill is the real number.
150. 10/4 · A competitor movedA big company bolted a similar feature onto its product, free. More customers now ask, “How are you different?”
151. 10/30 · Security vulnerabilityAn outside researcher reported a vulnerability. You have to check whether personal data leaked.
152. 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.
153. 11/3 · The rush before the long holidayOrders rose ahead of the long holiday. Delivery and stock both became tight at once.
154. 1/25 · Patent warning letterA cease-and-desist letter arrived claiming possible patent infringement. A lawyer needs to review it.
155. 1/26 · A signal from your bodyYour chest felt tight, so you went to the emergency room. The result was “overwork.”
156. 2/15 · Service outageAn alert at 3 a.m.: the disk was full. Fixed before morning; nobody noticed.
157. 2/18 · Funding costs rose againThe US 10-year yield rose to 7.31%. Investors recalculated valuations, and the bank asked for more collateral.
158. 3/12 · Churn roseCancellations this week were double the usual. Many customers abandoned the payment page.
159. 4/4 · Your mentorAn old mentor called. “What scares you most right now?” they asked.
160. 4/20 · Personal data requestA customer asked for disclosure and deletion of their personal data. You checked the procedure again.
161. 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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