CLOSED

Overnight fresh-grocery delivery opened · CLOSED after 4 yr 5 mo

Dương Minh Khoa, 40 · 4 yr 5 mo

“Paid the card with another card. You know how that ends.”

I closed after 4 years and 5 months. No debt remained, just 125 customers.

On the last day, you posted the shutdown notice and turned off the servers. Cash ₫29,091,633, debt ₫0, 0 employees, 125 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 openDương Minh Khoa, 36. You have decided to try starting a company in Ho Chi Minh City. No idea, no product yet. Savings ₫284,481,086, employed (₫21,998,060 a month).
2. 7/2026: 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.
3. 2026 · year 1 beginsA Quiet Year
4. 8/2026: what now?Interview 20 people — 6 of 20 said they would pay. 7 only said it would be "nice to have".
5. 8/13 · The exchange rate pushed up import billsThe VND/USD rate rose to 26,097. Servers and subscriptions billed in dollars cost more.
6. 9/2026: what now?Decide to build it — You decided to build. Validation ends here.
7. 10/2026: what now?Build it yourself — You settled on how to build it.
8. 11/2026: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
9. 11/23 · A competitor movedA company solving the same problem announced a funding round. Nobody in the comments mentioned you.
10. 12/2026: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
11. 1/2027: what now?Keep building — Another month the same way. Progress crept up.
12. 2/2027: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
13. 2/22 · Down sickA sore throat and a fever. You got through the day in a mask.
14. 3/2027: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
15. 3/18 · The exchange rate pushed up import billsThe VND/USD rate rose to 26,097. Servers and subscriptions billed in dollars cost more.
16. 4/2027: what now?Keep building — Another month the same way. Progress crept up.
17. 5/2027: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
18. 6/2027: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
19. 6/19 · A competitor movedA competitor shipped the feature you were preparing, first. Their price is lower.
20. 7/2027: what now?Keep building — Another month the same way. Progress crept up.
21. 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.
22. Year 1 closeRevenue ₫0, loss ₫77,400,582. Your salary put in ₫64,364,694; cash ₫269,173,618.
23. 2027 · year 2 beginsRates Rose
24. 7/28 · Your mentorYour mentor sent a link to an article. “This sounded like you.”
25. 8/2027: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
26. 9/2027: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
27. 10/2027: what now?Keep building — Another month the same way. Progress crept up.
28. 10/27 · FamilyYour family packed you lunch. The note said, “Eat properly.”
29. 11/2027: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
30. 11/10 · Down sickA sore throat and a fever. You got through the day in a mask.
31. 12/2027: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
32. 12/7 · A competitor movedA competitor shipped the feature you were preparing, first. Their price is lower.
33. 1/2028: what now?Keep building — Another month the same way. Progress crept up.
34. 2/2028: what now?Launch — You pressed launch. 193 sign-ups on day one. You refreshed ten times.
35. 2/19 · Churn roseCancellations this week were double the usual. Many customers abandoned the payment page.
36. 3/2028: what now?Spread the word through communities and content — 10 new customers this month. While the number climbs, it looks like a company.
37. 3/30 · Server bill spikeTraffic grew, and the server bill came in far above what you expected.
38. AI redrew the marketIgnore it — You did not buy the tools. Six months later, a competitor offered the same service at half the price.
39. 4/23 · Covered in an articleAn industry outlet wrote about the product. Sign-up inquiries rose a little.
40. 5/2028: what now?Keep going — Spread the word through communities and content — 39 new customers this month. A post drew questions, and the questions turned into sign-ups.
41. 5/24 · Your mentorLunch with an old mentor. “Forget the numbers. Are you sleeping?”
42. 6/11 · A competitor movedA big company bolted a similar feature onto its product, free. More customers now ask, “How are you different?”
43. The “₫140,000,000 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.
44. Rates RoseMarket rates rose. Variable-rate loans cost more, and so does any new borrowing. More people stood at bank counters tapping calculators.
45. Year 2 closeRevenue ₫375,081,226, loss ₫37,007,530. Your salary put in ₫64,364,694; cash ₫297,498,650.
46. 2028 · year 3 beginsAn Unexpected Break
47. 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.
48. 8/6 · Security vulnerabilityAn outside researcher reported a vulnerability. You have to check whether personal data leaked.
49. 8/26 · FamilyYour family packed you lunch. The note said, “Eat properly.”
50. 9/12 · Churn roseCancellations this week were double the usual. Many customers abandoned the payment page.
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. 11/22 · Your mentorLunch with an old mentor. “Forget the numbers. Are you sleeping?”
53. 12/13 · Covered in an articleAn industry outlet wrote about the product. Sign-up inquiries rose a little.
54. Start selling live on TikTok Shop?Skip it — Your nephew shrugged and folded the tripod. The shop opened and closed as usual. Quiet days followed.
55. 1/5 · A competitor movedA company solving the same problem announced a funding round. Nobody in the comments mentioned you.
56. 3/9 · FamilyAt dinner nobody brought up work. You understood that was a kindness.
57. 3/21 · Server bill spikeA test server you forgot to switch off had been running all month.
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. 5/22 · Your mentorYour mentor sent a link to an article. “This sounded like you.”
60. 5/29 · Service outageAn alert at 3 a.m.: the disk was full. Fixed before morning; nobody noticed.
61. 6/29 · Patent warning letterA legal demand letter arrived claiming possible patent infringement. A lawyer needs to review it.
62. The competitor made it freePropose a partnership — You partnered with the competitor. They used your feature, and you got their customers. Dependence is convenient and dangerous.
63. An Unexpected BreakAn old acquaintance called with a contract, and one introduction led to another. They say luck only comes to the prepared, but some moments cannot be explained by preparation alone.
64. Year 3 closeRevenue ₫946,751,752, loss ₫179,442,010. Your salary put in ₫64,364,694; cash ₫199,720,724.
65. 2029 · year 4 beginsA Competitor Copied You · An Unexpected Break
66. 7/17 · Global growth forecasts fellWith the IMF and World Bank forecasts diverging, global growth came down to 1.6%. Replies to overseas inquiries got slower.
67. 7/21 · Security vulnerabilityAn outside researcher reported a vulnerability. You have to check whether personal data leaked.
68. 8/3 · A signal from your bodyYour chest felt tight, so you went to the emergency room. The result was “overwork.”
69. 9/28 · A competitor movedA company solving the same problem announced a funding round. Nobody in the comments mentioned you.
70. “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.
71. 10/8 · Down sickDay three of a cold that will not lift. No time to see a doctor.
72. 10/29 · FamilyYou talked with your family for a long time. Someone said, “You come before the money.”
73. 11/6 · Covered in an articleAn industry outlet wrote about the product. Sign-up inquiries rose a little.
74. 12/7 · Oil reached the cost baseBrent rose to $120 a barrel. Quotes for packaging and freight are not what they were last month. You redid the cost sheet.
75. 12/25 · Server bill spikeA test server you forgot to switch off had been running all month.
76. An acquisition offer came inSell only part of the equity — You sold 10% of the equity. The company stayed the same, and the account got a little thicker. You put the money into the product.
77. 1/17 · The rush before the long holidayOrders rose ahead of the long holiday. Delivery and stock both became tight at once.
78. 2/8 · Security vulnerabilityAn outside researcher reported a vulnerability. You have to check whether personal data leaked.
79. 2/9 · Global growth forecasts fellWith the IMF and World Bank forecasts diverging, global growth came down to 1.6%. Replies to overseas inquiries got slower.
80. Priorities for the next three monthsGrow revenue — You spent on ads and sales. Inquiries went up. The close rate was lower than you expected.
81. 4/29 · Down sickDay three of a cold that will not lift. No time to see a doctor.
82. 5/21 · A signal from your bodyYour chest felt tight, so you went to the emergency room. The result was “overwork.”
83. 6/6 · Oil reached the cost baseBrent rose to $120 a barrel. Quotes for packaging and freight are not what they were last month. You redid the cost sheet.
84. 6/21 · Churn roseCancellations this week were double the usual. Many customers abandoned the payment page.
85. 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.
86. An Unexpected BreakAn old acquaintance called with a contract, and one introduction led to another. They say luck only comes to the prepared, but some moments cannot be explained by preparation alone.
87. Year 4 closeRevenue ₫799,969,125, loss ₫262,883,594. Your salary put in ₫64,364,694; cash ₫192,681,496.
88. 2030 · year 5 beginsA Big Company Launched It for Free · Patent Dispute
89. 7/9 · HeatwaveA heat warning. The air conditioning ran all day. The electricity bill is on your mind.
90. 7/24 · A competitor movedA big company bolted a similar feature onto its product, free. More customers now ask, “How are you different?”
91. 8/17 · Funding costs rose againThe US 10-year yield rose to 5.84%. Investors recalculated valuations, and the bank asked for more collateral.
92. 8/18 · Global growth forecasts fellWith the IMF and World Bank forecasts diverging, global growth came down to 1.8%. Replies to overseas inquiries got slower.
93. 9/4 · Personal data requestA customer asked for disclosure and deletion of their personal data. You checked the procedure again.
94. 9/9 · Service outageRight after the deploy, login broke. Restored in forty minutes, but customer messages flooded in.
95. 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.
96. 10/12 · Patent warning letterA legal demand letter arrived claiming possible patent infringement. A lawyer needs to review it.
97. 10/24 · Your mentorAn old mentor called. “What scares you most right now?” they asked.
98. 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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