ZOMBIE

Authenticated luxury resale survived 7 yr · ZOMBIE

Liam Rodriguez, 40 · 7 yr

“My revenue chart looks like a heart monitor”

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 $19,076, debt $0, 0 employees, 7 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 openLiam Rodriguez, 34. You have decided to try starting a company in New York. No idea, no product yet. Savings $34,816, employed ($7,738 a month).
2. Debt from day onePersonal debt: $499 a month for 119 months. It comes out regardless of the company.
3. 2/2026: what now?Start a business: «Authenticated luxury resale» — You are going with «Authenticated luxury resale». Still no company, no product. Now find out whether the idea is real.
4. 2026 · year 1 beginsChinese Demand Cooled
5. 3/2026: what now?Interview 20 people — 5 of 20 said they would pay. 9 only said it would be "nice to have".
6. 4/2026: what now?Decide to build it — You decided to build. Validation ends here.
7. 4/8 · Funding costs rose againThe US 10-year yield rose to 5.36%. Investors recalculated valuations, and the bank asked for more collateral.
8. 5/2026: what now?Build it yourself — You settled on how to build it.
9. 5/11 · FamilyYour family packed you lunch. The note said, “Eat properly.”
10. 6/2026: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
11. 6/4 · Your mentorAn old mentor called. “What scares you most right now?” they asked.
12. 6/22 · Down sickA sore throat and a fever. You got through the day in a mask.
13. 7/2026: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
14. 7/4 · A competitor movedA big company bolted a similar feature onto its product, free. More customers now ask, “How are you different?”
15. 8/2026: what now?Keep building — Another month the same way. Progress crept up.
16. 9/2026: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
17. 10/2026: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
18. 11/2026: what now?Keep building — Another month the same way. Progress crept up.
19. 12/2026: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
20. 12/8 · Funding costs rose againThe US 10-year yield rose to 5.36%. Investors recalculated valuations, and the bank asked for more collateral.
21. 1/2027: what now?Quit your job — You quit. The next morning, not having to go to work felt strange.
22. 2/2027: what now?Keep building — Another month the same way. Progress crept up.
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 $16,904. Your salary put in $14,832; cash $32,317.
25. 2027 · year 2 beginsA Competitor Copied You
26. 2/16 · Your mentorLunch with an old mentor. “Forget the numbers. Are you sleeping?”
27. 3/2027: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
28. 3/30 · A competitor movedA big company bolted a similar feature onto its product, free. More customers now ask, “How are you different?”
29. 4/2027: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
30. 4/28 · A death in the familyYour father passed away. You set an auto-reply: away for a few days for family reasons.
31. 4/24 · An inheritanceYou inherited $28,409. Not money you were glad to see.
32. Your father’s funeralA quiet family funeral — You said goodbye quietly, just the family.
33. Financing approvedFriends and family money $25,000 · 2.0%/yr · 48 months
34. 5/2027: what now?Apply: Friends and family money — You waited for the Friends and family money decision. Friends and family money $25,000 approved.
35. 5/27 · An investor showed interestAn investor asked for a meeting next week. “I want a closer look at who is building this,” they said.
36. 6/2027: what now?Launch — You pressed launch. 84 sign-ups on day one. You refreshed ten times.
37. 6/15 · Selected for a grant programSelected for a government support program. The grant arrives next month; the reporting starts this week.
38. 7/2027: what now?Spread the word through communities and content — 19 new customers this month. Among the new names were people last month’s customers had sent.
39. 7/3 · Churn roseCancellations this week were double the usual. Many customers abandoned the payment page.
40. 7/21 · FamilyAt dinner nobody brought up work. You understood that was a kindness.
41. Time to hire?Not this time — You never posted the job ad.
42. 8/27 · Server bill spikeThe free cloud credits ran out. From this month the bill is the real number.
43. 9/2027: what now?Keep going — Spread the word through communities and content — 11 new customers this month. While the number climbs, it looks like a company.
44. 9/12 · Covered in an articleAn industry outlet wrote about the product. Sign-up inquiries rose a little.
45. 9/27 · Service outageThe payment processor went down for two hours. Not your fault, but you wrote the apology.
46. 10/19 · Demo dayYou presented at demo day. The questions were sharp, but the applause sounded genuine.
47. Sales is why customers stopped growingDefer for free — You spent nothing and will reconsider at another opportunity.
48. 11/8 · An investor showed interestAn investor asked for a meeting next week. “I want a closer look at who is building this,” they said.
49. 12/4 · Patent warning letterA cease-and-desist letter arrived claiming possible patent infringement. A lawyer needs to review it.
50. 12/18 · Your mentorAn old mentor called. “What scares you most right now?” they asked.
51. 1/6 · FamilyYou talked with your family for a long time. Someone said, “You come before the money.”
52. 1/16 · Security vulnerabilityAn outside researcher reported a vulnerability. You have to check whether personal data leaked.
53. A specialist could unblock the productDefer for free — You spent nothing and will reconsider at another opportunity.
54. 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.
55. Year 2 closeRevenue $186,293, operating profit $4,015. Cash $41,925.
56. 2028 · year 3 beginsA Quiet Year
57. 2/13 · Churn roseCancellations this week were double the usual. Many customers abandoned the payment page.
58. 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.
59. 3/18 · A competitor movedA company solving the same problem announced a funding round. Nobody in the comments mentioned you.
60. 4/8 · Service outageThe payment processor went down for two hours. Not your fault, but you wrote the apology.
61. Financing declinedThe Bank working-capital loan application was declined.
62. You are short of moneyBank credit line — You walked into the bank with documents and proof of income. They said your trading history is short. Now you wait for underwriting. But underwriting declined it. Credit and cash flow need another look.
63. 5/8 · Demo dayYou presented at demo day. The questions were sharp, but the applause sounded genuine.
64. 5/15 · Server bill spikeThe free cloud credits ran out. From this month the bill is the real number.
65. 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.
66. 6/22 · A signal from your bodyYour chest felt tight, so you went to the emergency room. The result was “overwork.”
67. 6/29 · HeatwaveA heat warning. The air conditioning ran all day. The electricity bill is on your mind.
68. 7/23 · Covered in an articleAn industry outlet wrote about the product. Sign-up inquiries rose a little.
69. AI redrew the marketIgnore it — You did not buy the tools. Six months later, a competitor offered the same service at half the price.
70. 8/3 · Personal data requestA customer asked for disclosure and deletion of their personal data. You checked the procedure again.
71. 8/15 · Churn roseCancellations this week were double the usual. Many customers abandoned the payment page.
72. 9/23 · An investor showed interestAn investor asked for a meeting next week. “I want a closer look at who is building this,” they said.
73. 9/24 · Selected for a grant programSelected for a government support program. The grant arrives next month; the reporting starts this week.
74. 10/10 · A competitor movedA competitor shipped the feature you were preparing, first. Their price is lower.
75. Keep going like this?Hold on with what you have — You decided not to change. Instead you went over what you do, line by line.
76. 11/12 · Loan payment dayLoan payment day. $731 in principal and interest left the account. The balance is $21,359.
77. 11/23 · Demo dayYou presented at demo day. The questions were sharp, but the applause sounded genuine.
78. 12/14 · Security vulnerabilityAn outside researcher reported a vulnerability. You have to check whether personal data leaked.
79. 12/21 · Down sickA sore throat and a fever. You got through the day in a mask.
80. 1/11 · A signal from your bodyYour chest felt tight, so you went to the emergency room. The result was “overwork.”
81. 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.
82. 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.
83. Year 3 closeRevenue $174,130, operating profit $12,540. Cash $35,911.
84. 2029 · year 4 beginsRates Rose
85. 2/8 · Personal data requestA customer asked for disclosure and deletion of their personal data. You checked the procedure again.
86. 2/21 · Service outageRight after the deploy, login broke. Restored in forty minutes, but customer messages flooded in.
87. 3/25 · Overseas orders came backGlobal growth rose to 3.7%. An overseas partner was the first to ask about next quarter’s volume.
88. 4/12 · Rate hike newsThe news said the policy rate went up. You reread the terms on the existing loan.
89. 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.
90. 5/29 · A competitor movedA company solving the same problem announced a funding round. Nobody in the comments mentioned you.
91. 6/13 · Demo dayYou presented at demo day. The questions were sharp, but the applause sounded genuine.
92. 7/5 · Your mentorAn old mentor called. “What scares you most right now?” they asked.
93. BurnoutKeep going — You kept going. The product moved forward and your body moved back. Nobody wrote that cost on the income statement.
94. 8/6 · Personal data requestA customer asked for disclosure and deletion of their personal data. You checked the procedure again.
95. 8/23 · Down sickA sore throat and a fever. You got through the day in a mask.
96. 9/20 · FamilyYou talked with your family for a long time. Someone said, “You come before the money.”
97. 10/18 · Patent warning letterA cease-and-desist letter arrived claiming possible patent infringement. A lawyer needs to review it.
98. 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.
99. 11/3 · Server bill spikeA test server you forgot to switch off had been running all month.
100. 11/18 · Covered in an articleAn industry outlet wrote about the product. Sign-up inquiries rose a little.
101. 12/5 · Overseas orders came backGlobal growth rose to 3.7%. An overseas partner was the first to ask about next quarter’s volume.
102. 12/24 · Security vulnerabilityAn outside researcher reported a vulnerability. You have to check whether personal data leaked.
103. 1/10 · Rate hike newsThe news said the policy rate went up. You reread the terms on the existing loan.
104. 1/14 · A signal from your bodyYour chest felt tight, so you went to the emergency room. The result was “overwork.”
105. Priorities for the next three monthsImprove quality — You rewrote the notices around the questions people ask most. The same questions dropped off noticeably.
106. Rates RoseMarket rates rose. Variable-rate loans cost more, and so does any new borrowing. More people stood at bank counters tapping calculators.
107. Year 4 closeRevenue $74,448, operating profit $13,980. Cash $26,404.
108. 2030 · year 5 beginsThe Supply Chain Broke
109. 2/11 · A competitor movedA big company bolted a similar feature onto its product, free. More customers now ask, “How are you different?”
110. 3/21 · Service outageThe payment processor went down for two hours. Not your fault, but you wrote the apology.
111. 3/29 · Loan payment dayLoan payment day. $731 in principal and interest left the account. The balance is $10,101.
112. 4/6 · Your mentorLunch with an old mentor. “Forget the numbers. Are you sleeping?”
113. 4/26 · Down sickYou came down with something. You took medicine and pushed through, but could not concentrate.
114. 5/26 · Covered in an articleAn industry outlet wrote about the product. Sign-up inquiries rose a little.
115. 6/17 · Demo dayYou presented at demo day. The questions were sharp, but the applause sounded genuine.
116. 7/4 · Security vulnerabilityAn outside researcher reported a vulnerability. You have to check whether personal data leaked.
117. Priorities for the next three monthsTake care of people — You took a whole day off and left the phone in a drawer. The next day the work weighed a little less.
118. 8/6 · An investor showed interestAn investor asked for a meeting next week. “I want a closer look at who is building this,” they said.
119. 8/21 · FamilyYou talked with your family for a long time. Someone said, “You come before the money.”
120. 9/5 · Patent warning letterA cease-and-desist letter arrived claiming possible patent infringement. A lawyer needs to review it.
121. 9/15 · A competitor movedA company solving the same problem announced a funding round. Nobody in the comments mentioned you.
122. 10/12 · Down sickYou came down with something. You took medicine and pushed through, but could not concentrate.
123. 11/4 · A signal from your bodyYour chest felt tight, so you went to the emergency room. The result was “overwork.”
124. 12/29 · Service outageThe payment processor went down for two hours. Not your fault, but you wrote the apology.
125. 12/16 · A death in the familyYour mother passed away. You set an auto-reply: away for a few days for family reasons.
126. Your mother’s funeralA quiet family funeral — You said goodbye quietly, just the family.
127. 1/18 · Demo dayYou presented at demo day. The questions were sharp, but the applause sounded genuine.
128. 1/21 · Selected for a grant programSelected for a government support program. The grant arrives next month; the reporting starts this week.
129. Priorities for the next three monthsGrow revenue — You raised the search-ad budget. Clicks went up; only some of them bought.
130. 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.
131. Year 5 closeRevenue $46,226, operating profit $3,172. Cash $18,138.
132. 2031 · year 6 beginsThe Tech Investment Cycle Came Back
133. 2/23 · An investor showed interestAn investor asked for a meeting next week. “I want a closer look at who is building this,” they said.
134. 3/4 · Your mentorYour mentor sent a link to an article. “This sounded like you.”
135. 3/5 · Security vulnerabilityAn outside researcher reported a vulnerability. You have to check whether personal data leaked.
136. 5/27 · Patent warning letterA cease-and-desist letter arrived claiming possible patent infringement. A lawyer needs to review it.
137. 6/16 · A competitor movedA big company bolted a similar feature onto its product, free. More customers now ask, “How are you different?”
138. 6/27 · A signal from your bodyYour chest felt tight, so you went to the emergency room. The result was “overwork.”
139. 7/9 · FamilyYou talked with your family for a long time. Someone said, “You come before the money.”
140. 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.
141. 8/13 · Service outageRight after the deploy, login broke. Restored in forty minutes, but customer messages flooded in.
142. 8/15 · Server bill spikeA test server you forgot to switch off had been running all month.
143. 9/4 · Covered in an articleAn industry outlet wrote about the product. Sign-up inquiries rose a little.
144. 10/24 · Down sickA sore throat and a fever. You got through the day in a mask.
145. “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.
146. 12/17 · A competitor movedA company solving the same problem announced a funding round. Nobody in the comments mentioned you.
147. Priorities for the next three monthsImprove quality — You rewrote the notices around the questions people ask most. The same questions dropped off noticeably.
148. 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.
149. Year 6 closeRevenue $31,815, loss $251. Your salary put in $5,388; cash $20,575.
150. 2032 · year 7 beginsInvestor Meeting · 3 A.M., Your Heart Was Racing
151. 2/20 · Overseas orders came backGlobal growth rose to 3.9%. An overseas partner was the first to ask about next quarter’s volume.
152. 3/18 · An investor showed interestAn investor asked for a meeting next week. “I want a closer look at who is building this,” they said.
153. 3/30 · FamilyYour family packed you lunch. The note said, “Eat properly.”
154. 4/9 · Security vulnerabilityAn outside researcher reported a vulnerability. You have to check whether personal data leaked.
155. 5/7 · Server bill spikeTraffic grew, and the server bill came in far above what you expected.
156. 5/29 · Down sickYou came down with something. You took medicine and pushed through, but could not concentrate.
157. 6/11 · Service outageThe payment processor went down for two hours. Not your fault, but you wrote the apology.
158. 7/12 · A signal from your bodyYour chest felt tight, so you went to the emergency room. The result was “overwork.”
159. 7/23 · HeatwaveA heat warning. The air conditioning ran all day. The electricity bill is on your mind.
160. 7/24 · Your partner lost their jobZoe was let go. Unemployment benefit will last a few months, but less is coming into the house.
161. Priorities for the next three monthsGrow revenue — You got back in touch with past customers one by one. A few more customers came, though not as many as the money spent.
162. 8/4 · A competitor movedA big company bolted a similar feature onto its product, free. More customers now ask, “How are you different?”
163. 8/14 · Covered in an articleAn industry outlet wrote about the product. Sign-up inquiries rose a little.
164. 9/8 · Overseas orders came backGlobal growth rose to 3.9%. An overseas partner was the first to ask about next quarter’s volume.
165. 10/12 · Demo dayYou presented at demo day. The questions were sharp, but the applause sounded genuine.
166. 10/19 · An investor showed interestAn investor asked for a meeting next week. “I want a closer look at who is building this,” they said.
167. 11/6 · The rush before the long holidayOrders rose ahead of the long holiday. Delivery and stock both became tight at once.
168. 12/4 · Server bill spikeTraffic grew, and the server bill came in far above what you expected.
169. 12/23 · FamilyAt dinner nobody brought up work. You understood that was a kindness.
170. 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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