CLOSED

Contract-review AI opened · CLOSED after 2 yr 3 mo

Huỳnh Thị Lan, 41 · 2 yr 3 mo

“We had more features than users”

I closed after 2 years and 3 months. What remained was ₫126,168,449 in debt and 5 customers.

On the last day, you posted the shutdown notice and turned off the servers. Cash -₫26,680,118, debt ₫126,168,449, 0 employees, 5 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 openHuỳnh Thị Lan, 39. You have decided to try starting a company in Other provinces (Can Tho, Mekong Delta, etc.). No idea, no product yet. Savings ₫576,973,812, no job.
2. 11/2026: what now?Start a business: «Contract-review AI» — You are going with «Contract-review AI». Still no company, no product. Now find out whether the idea is real.
3. 2026 · year 1 beginsChinese Demand Cooled
4. 12/2026: what now?Interview 20 people — 7 of 20 said they would pay. 5 only said it would be "nice to have".
5. 12/5 · FamilyYour family packed you lunch. The note said, “Eat properly.”
6. 1/2027: what now?Decide to build it — You decided to build. Validation ends here.
7. 1/20 · A competitor movedA competitor shipped the feature you were preparing, first. Their price is lower.
8. 2/2027: what now?Hire an agency — You signed. The developer said "two months, tops", and you believed it.
9. 2/18 · Funding costs rose againThe US 10-year yield rose to 5.37%. Investors recalculated valuations, and the bank asked for more collateral.
10. 3/2027: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
11. 4/2027: what now?Keep building — Another month the same way. Progress crept up.
12. 4/26 · Your mentorAn old mentor called. “What scares you most right now?” they asked.
13. 5/2027: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
14. 6/2027: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
15. 6/14 · HeatwaveA heat warning. The air conditioning ran all day. The electricity bill is on your mind.
16. 6/2 · The agency deliveredThe agency handed over the build. You paid the balance of ₫155,140,640.
17. 7/2027: what now?Keep building — Another month the same way. Progress crept up.
18. 7/23 · Down sickYou came down with something. You took medicine and pushed through, but could not concentrate.
19. 8/2027: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
20. 9/2027: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
21. 9/28 · A competitor movedA competitor shipped the feature you were preparing, first. Their price is lower.
22. Financing approvedFamily money and a rotating savings club ₫150,000,000 · 5.0%/yr · 24 months
23. 10/2027: what now?Apply: Family money and a rotating savings club — You waited for the Family money and a rotating savings club decision. Family money and a rotating savings club ₫150,000,000 approved.
24. 10/11 · Selected for a grant programSelected for a government support program. The grant arrives next month; the reporting starts this week.
25. 11/2027: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
26. 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.
27. Year 1 closeRevenue ₫0, loss ₫54,587,779. Cash ₫241,021,619.
28. 2027 · year 2 beginsUS Rates Rose Again
29. 11/26 · Loan payment dayLoan payment day. ₫6,580,708 in principal and interest left the account. The balance is ₫144,044,292.
30. 11/27 · Funding costs rose againThe US 10-year yield rose to 6.40%. Investors recalculated valuations, and the bank asked for more collateral.
31. 12/2027: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
32. 1/2028: what now?Keep building — Another month the same way. Progress crept up.
33. 1/18 · Down sickYou came down with something. You took medicine and pushed through, but could not concentrate.
34. Financing approvedUnsecured consumer loan ₫100,000,000 · 25.0%/yr · 36 months
35. 2/2028: what now?Apply: Unsecured consumer loan — You waited for the Unsecured consumer loan decision. Unsecured consumer loan ₫100,000,000 approved.
36. 2/20 · Demo dayYou presented at demo day. The questions were sharp, but the applause sounded genuine.
37. 3/2028: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
38. 3/18 · Your mentorAn old mentor called. “What scares you most right now?” they asked.
39. 4/2028: what now?Keep building — Another month the same way. Progress crept up.
40. 4/13 · An investor showed interestAn investor asked for a meeting next week. “I want a closer look at who is building this,” they said.
41. 4/29 · A competitor movedA company solving the same problem announced a funding round. Nobody in the comments mentioned you.
42. 5/2028: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
43. 5/14 · Selected for a grant programSelected for a government support program. The grant arrives next month; the reporting starts this week.
44. 6/2028: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
45. 6/6 · Funding costs rose againThe US 10-year yield rose to 6.40%. Investors recalculated valuations, and the bank asked for more collateral.
46. Month 18 of buildingCut scope and ship anyway — You deleted half the feature list and told yourself what stayed matters more than what went.
47. 7/11 · HeatwaveA heat warning. The air conditioning ran all day. The electricity bill is on your mind.
48. 7/16 · Loan payment dayLoan payment day. ₫10,556,691 in principal and interest left the account. The balance is ₫185,630,679.
49. 8/2028: what now?Launch — You pressed launch. 1 sign-ups on day one. You refreshed ten times.
50. 8/9 · Demo dayYou presented at demo day. The questions were sharp, but the applause sounded genuine.
51. 8/25 · Server bill spikeThe free cloud credits ran out. From this month the bill is the real number.
52. 9/2028: what now?Spread the word through communities and content — No new customers this month. The channel has to change.
53. 9/16 · Covered in an articleAn industry outlet wrote about the product. Sign-up inquiries rose a little.
54. 10/2028: what now?Keep going — Spread the word through communities and content — 2 new customers this month. Few enough to know each one by name.
55. 10/26 · Service outageThe payment processor went down for two hours. Not your fault, but you wrote the apology.
56. The service went downFix the root cause — You reopened code nobody had touched in ages. Half the customers stayed through it.
57. US Rates Rose AgainSignals of Fed tightening strengthened the dollar, and this country's funding rates followed. When the VND/USD rate jumped, costing got complicated again for anyone buying imported ingredients or parts.
58. Year 2 closeRevenue ₫27,326,497, loss ₫71,059,657. Cash ₫41,485,078.
59. 2028 · year 3 beginsRates Rose
60. 11/10 · Personal data requestA customer asked for disclosure and deletion of their personal data. You checked the procedure again.
61. 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.
62. 12/2028: what now?Keep going — Spread the word through communities and content — 2 new customers this month. Few enough to know each one by name.
63. 12/23 · The bank asked for documentsThe loan extension paperwork arrived: financial statements and copies of the VAT (GTGT) returns, please.
64. Financing declinedThe business household (hộ kinh doanh) Small and Medium Enterprise Development Fund (SMEDF) application was declined.
65. You are short of moneyApply for the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Fund (SMEDF) — You rewrote the business plan. The officer at Department of Planning and Investment / Department of Finance spent longer on cash flow and repayment than on revenue. The answer arrives by post. But underwriting declined it. Credit and cash flow need an
66. 1/27 · The exchange rate pushed up import billsThe VND/USD rate rose to 26,104. Servers and subscriptions billed in dollars cost more.
67. 1/8 · A loan payment bouncedThe loan payment did not go through. One text from the bank, and your credit grade dropped a notch.
68. The runway is running outShut it down — You cancelled the last subscriptions and turned off the servers. When the laptop closed, the room went quiet.

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