CLOSED

Webtoon studio opened · CLOSED after 2 yr 3 mo

Inoue Kaori, 29 · 2 yr 3 mo

“Next time I decide my quit line before I start”

I closed after 2 years and 3 months. What remained was $12,302 in debt and 711 customers.

On the last day, you posted the shutdown notice and turned off the servers. Cash -$5,593, debt $12,302, 0 employees, 711 customers. 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 openInoue Kaori, 27. You have decided to try starting a company in Austin. No idea, no product yet. Savings $50,263, no job.
2. 2/2026: what now?Start a business: «Webtoon studio» — You are going with «Webtoon studio». Still no company, no product. Now find out whether the idea is real.
3. 2026 · year 1 beginsA Quiet Year
4. 2/26 · Down sickDay three of a cold that will not lift. No time to see a doctor.
5. 3/2026: what now?Interview 20 people — 10 of 20 said they would pay. 4 only said it would be "nice to have".
6. 3/13 · Your mentorYour mentor sent a link to an article. “This sounded like you.”
7. 4/2026: what now?Decide to build it — You decided to build. Validation ends here.
8. 4/20 · FamilyYour family packed you lunch. The note said, “Eat properly.”
9. 5/2026: what now?Build it yourself — You settled on how to build it.
10. 6/2026: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
11. 7/2026: what now?Keep building — Another month the same way. Progress crept up.
12. 8/2026: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
13. 8/17 · Down sickA sore throat and a fever. You got through the day in a mask.
14. 9/2026: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
15. 10/2026: what now?Keep building — Another month the same way. Progress crept up.
16. 10/4 · FamilyAt dinner nobody brought up work. You understood that was a kindness.
17. 11/2026: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
18. Financing approvedPut it on credit cards $20,000 · 24.0%/yr · 36 months
19. 12/2026: what now?Apply: Put it on credit cards — You waited for the Put it on credit cards decision. Put it on credit cards $20,000 approved.
20. 12/3 · A competitor movedA competitor shipped the feature you were preparing, first. Their price is lower.
21. 12/27 · Loan payment dayLoan payment day. $785 in principal and interest left the account. The balance is $20,000.
22. 1/2027: what now?Launch — You pressed launch. 184 sign-ups on day one. You refreshed ten times.
23. 1/10 · An investor showed interestAn investor asked for a meeting next week. “I want a closer look at who is building this,” they said.
24. 1/25 · Service outageAn alert at 3 a.m.: the disk was full. Fixed before morning; nobody noticed.
25. Time to hire?Not this time — You never posted the job ad.
26. 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.
27. Year 1 closeRevenue $374, loss $7,212. Cash $20,262.
28. 2027 · year 2 beginsUS Rates Rose Again
29. 2/13 · Security vulnerabilityAn outside researcher reported a vulnerability. You have to check whether personal data leaked.
30. 2/23 · Covered in an articleAn industry outlet wrote about the product. Sign-up inquiries rose a little.
31. 3/2027: what now?Take a job and run it on the side — You rewrote your CV. The interviewer found the startup story interesting.
32. 3/8 · Rate hike newsThe news said the policy rate went up. You reread the terms on the existing loan.
33. 3/25 · Churn roseCancellations this week were double the usual. Many customers abandoned the payment page.
34. 4/2027: what now?Spread the word through communities and content — 26 new customers this month. A post drew questions, and the questions turned into sign-ups.
35. 4/15 · Selected for a grant programSelected for a government support program. The grant arrives next month; the reporting starts this week.
36. 4/27 · FamilyAt dinner nobody brought up work. You understood that was a kindness.
37. 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.
38. 5/28 · Your mentorYour mentor sent a link to an article. “This sounded like you.”
39. 6/2027: what now?Keep going — Spread the word through communities and content — 15 new customers this month. Among the new names were people last month’s customers had sent.
40. 6/12 · Server bill spikeTraffic grew, and the server bill came in far above what you expected.
41. 7/2027: what now?Keep going — Spread the word through communities and content — 65 new customers this month. While the number climbs, it looks like a company.
42. 7/11 · Loan payment dayLoan payment day. $785 in principal and interest left the account. The balance is $17,140.
43. The “$20,000 a month or your money back” coursePay for it — The course was free YouTube videos stitched together. When you asked for the refund the reply was “assignments incomplete,” then nothing. You filed a report. The officer said it was closed: “no contact.”
44. 8/27 · Down sickDay three of a cold that will not lift. No time to see a doctor.
45. 9/2027: what now?Keep going — Spread the word through communities and content — 18 new customers this month. A post drew questions, and the questions turned into sign-ups.
46. 9/8 · Personal data requestA customer asked for disclosure and deletion of their personal data. You checked the procedure again.
47. 9/27 · Security vulnerabilityAn outside researcher reported a vulnerability. You have to check whether personal data leaked.
48. 10/2027: what now?Keep going — Spread the word through communities and content — 64 new customers this month. Among the new names were people last month’s customers had sent.
49. 10/16 · FamilyAt dinner nobody brought up work. You understood that was a kindness.
50. 10/26 · Rate hike newsThe news said the policy rate went up. You reread the terms on the existing loan.
51. This time you sell the courseWalk away — The agency probably sent the same pitch to another owner the next day. You opened the books again.
52. 11/12 · Your mentorLunch with an old mentor. “Forget the numbers. Are you sleeping?”
53. 12/2027: what now?Keep going — Spread the word through communities and content — 54 new customers this month. While the number climbs, it looks like a company.
54. 12/13 · An investor showed interestAn investor asked for a meeting next week. “I want a closer look at who is building this,” they said.
55. 1/2028: what now?Keep going — Spread the word through communities and content — 58 new customers this month. A post drew questions, and the questions turned into sign-ups.
56. 1/15 · Service outageAn alert at 3 a.m.: the disk was full. Fixed before morning; nobody noticed.
57. 1/24 · Loan payment dayLoan payment day. $785 in principal and interest left the account. The balance is $14,353.
58. Do you pivot?Push through — You did not pivot. You believed the market was wrong. Six months later, the market still had not answered.
59. 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.
60. Year 2 closeRevenue $8,650, operating profit $1,398. Cash $1,505.
61. 2028 · year 3 beginsPatent Dispute
62. 2/6 · 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.
63. 2/14 · A loan payment bouncedThe loan payment did not go through. One text from the bank, and your credit grade dropped a notch.
64. 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.
65. 3/2028: what now?Keep going — Spread the word through communities and content — 55 new customers this month. Among the new names were people last month’s customers had sent.
66. 3/11 · Churn roseCancellations this week were double the usual. Many customers abandoned the payment page.
67. 3/19 · Covered in an articleAn industry outlet wrote about the product. Sign-up inquiries rose a little.
68. 3/18 · Collection callsA number you did not know. It was about the overdue loan. Your family heard every word.
69. 4/2028: what now?Keep going — Spread the word through communities and content — 43 new customers this month. While the number climbs, it looks like a company.
70. 4/8 · A competitor movedA company solving the same problem announced a funding round. Nobody in the comments mentioned you.
71. 4/11 · FamilyAt dinner nobody brought up work. You understood that was a kindness.
72. 4/18 · Collection callsA number you did not know. It was about the overdue loan. Your family heard every word.

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