CLOSED

Factory defect-detection vision AI opened · CLOSED after 4 yr 1 mo

Hong Si-eun, 40 · 4 yr 1 mo

“Built three MVPs. Found zero users.”

I closed after 4 years and 1 month. What remained was ₩30,500,056 in debt and 5 customers.

On the last day, you posted the shutdown notice and turned off the servers. Cash ₩10,189,809, debt ₩30,500,056, 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 openHong Si-eun, 36. You have decided to try starting a company in Busan. No idea, no product yet. Savings ₩77,470,000, employed (₩2,960,000 a month).
2. 5/2026: what now?Start a business: «Factory defect-detection vision AI» — You are going with «Factory defect-detection vision AI». Still no company, no product. Now find out whether the idea is real.
3. 2026 · year 1 beginsChinese Demand Cooled
4. 6/2026: what now?Interview 20 people — 5 of 20 said they would pay. 6 only said it would be "nice to have".
5. 7/2026: what now?Decide to build it — You decided to build. Validation ends here.
6. 7/10 · A competitor movedA company solving the same problem announced a funding round. Nobody in the comments mentioned you.
7. 8/2026: what now?Build it yourself — You settled on how to build it.
8. 8/4 · Down sickA sore throat and a fever. You got through the day in a mask.
9. 8/21 · Your mentorLunch with an old mentor. “Forget the numbers. Are you sleeping?”
10. 9/2026: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
11. 9/27 · FamilyAt dinner nobody brought up work. You understood that was a kindness.
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. 2/2027: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
17. 3/2027: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
18. 3/29 · Your mentorLunch with an old mentor. “Forget the numbers. Are you sleeping?”
19. 4/2027: what now?Keep building — Another month the same way. Progress crept up.
20. 4/20 · A competitor movedA big company bolted a similar feature onto its product, free. More customers now ask, “How are you different?”
21. 5/2027: what now?Quit your job — You quit. The next morning, not having to go to work felt strange.
22. 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.
23. Year 1 closeRevenue ₩0, loss ₩14,640,000. Your salary put in ₩2,340,000; cash ₩64,830,000.
24. 2027 · year 2 beginsUS Rates Rose Again · Selected for a Government Program
25. 5/21 · Global growth forecasts fellWith the IMF and World Bank forecasts diverging, global growth came down to 2.5%. Replies to overseas inquiries got slower.
26. 6/2027: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
27. 7/2027: what now?Launch — You pressed launch. 0 sign-ups on day one. You refreshed ten times.
28. 7/5 · HeatwaveA heat warning. The air conditioning ran all day. The electricity bill is on your mind.
29. 7/17 · Service outageThe payment processor went down for two hours. Not your fault, but you wrote the apology.
30. AI redrew the marketAdopt partially — You handed over a couple of repetitive jobs. A small change, but the weekly overtime shrank one hour at a time.
31. 8/4 · Covered in an articleAn industry outlet wrote about the product. Sign-up inquiries rose a little.
32. 8/16 · Server bill spikeTraffic grew, and the server bill came in far above what you expected.
33. 9/2027: what now?Spread the word through communities and content — 1 new customers this month. Few enough to know each one by name.
34. 10/2027: what now?Keep going — Spread the word through communities and content — 1 new customers this month. Few enough to know each one by name.
35. 10/19 · A competitor movedA company solving the same problem announced a funding round. Nobody in the comments mentioned you.
36. Time to hire?Not this time — You never posted the job ad.
37. 11/9 · Global growth forecasts fellWith the IMF and World Bank forecasts diverging, global growth came down to 2.5%. Replies to overseas inquiries got slower.
38. 12/2027: what now?Keep going — Spread the word through communities and content — 1 new customers this month. Few enough to know each one by name.
39. 1/2028: what now?Keep going — Spread the word through communities and content — No new customers this month. The channel has to change.
40. 1/4 · Funding costs rose againThe US 10-year yield rose to 7.70%. Investors recalculated valuations, and the bank asked for more collateral.
41. 1/20 · Down sickYou came down with something. You took medicine and pushed through, but could not concentrate.
42. Graduation season filled the inboxDefer for free — You spent nothing and will reconsider at another opportunity.
43. 3/2028: what now?Keep going — Spread the word through communities and content — No new customers this month. The channel has to change.
44. 3/9 · Your mentorLunch with an old mentor. “Forget the numbers. Are you sleeping?”
45. 4/2028: what now?Keep going — Spread the word through communities and content — 1 new customers this month. Few enough to know each one by name.
46. 4/11 · Covered in an articleAn industry outlet wrote about the product. Sign-up inquiries rose a little.
47. Time to hire?Not this time — You never posted the job ad.
48. US Rates Rose AgainSignals of Fed tightening strengthened the dollar, and this country's funding rates followed. When the KRW/USD rate jumped, costing got complicated again for anyone buying imported ingredients or parts.
49. Selected for a Government ProgramYou were selected for a startup support program. The grant is ₩10,000,000, but it comes with monthly reports and presentations. The money is breathing room; the time is taken from you.
50. Year 2 closeRevenue ₩21,660,691, loss ₩17,608,948. Cash ₩21,441,052.
51. 2028 · year 3 beginsThe Currency Calmed Down
52. 5/7 · Server bill spikeTraffic grew, and the server bill came in far above what you expected.
53. 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.
54. 6/2028: what now?Keep going — Spread the word through communities and content — 1 new customers this month. Few enough to know each one by name.
55. 6/18 · Service outageRight after the deploy, login broke. Restored in forty minutes, but customer messages flooded in.
56. 7/2028: what now?Keep going — Spread the word through communities and content — No new customers this month. The channel has to change.
57. 7/9 · A competitor movedA competitor shipped the feature you were preparing, first. Their price is lower.
58. 7/27 · Funding costs rose againThe US 10-year yield rose to 7.99%. Investors recalculated valuations, and the bank asked for more collateral.
59. A specialist could unblock the productDefer for free — You spent nothing and will reconsider at another opportunity.
60. 8/8 · Patent warning letterA certified letter arrived claiming possible patent infringement. A lawyer needs to review it.
61. 9/2028: what now?Keep going — Spread the word through communities and content — 1 new customers this month. Few enough to know each one by name.
62. 9/26 · Security vulnerabilityAn outside researcher reported a vulnerability. You have to check whether personal data leaked.
63. 10/2028: what now?Keep going — Spread the word through communities and content — No new customers this month. The channel has to change.
64. 10/17 · FamilyYou talked with your family for a long time. Someone said, “You come before the money.”
65. Time to hire?Not this time — You never posted the job ad.
66. 12/2028: what now?Incorporate — The company is registered. Your business card now says CEO.
67. 12/12 · Your mentorLunch with an old mentor. “Forget the numbers. Are you sleeping?”
68. 1/2029: what now?Spread the word through communities and content — 1 new customers this month. Few enough to know each one by name.
69. 1/17 · Down sickDay three of a cold that will not lift. No time to see a doctor.
70. Financing approvedsmall merchant policy loan ₩18,000,000 · 4.1%/yr · 84 months
71. You are short of moneyApply for the policy loan — You rewrote the business plan. The officer at SEMAS (Small Enterprise and Market Service) spent longer on cash flow and repayment than on revenue. The answer arrives by post. small merchant policy loan ₩18,000,000 approved.
72. 2/13 · Covered in an articleAn industry outlet wrote about the product. Sign-up inquiries rose a little.
73. 2/25 · Demo dayYou presented at demo day. The questions were sharp, but the applause sounded genuine.
74. 3/2029: what now?Apply: Accelerator programme — ₩50,000,000 of investment landed. You now own 93%, and there is a board.
75. 3/17 · An investor showed interestAn investor asked for a meeting next week. “I want a closer look at who is building this,” they said.
76. 3/20 · Server bill spikeThe free cloud credits ran out. From this month the bill is the real number.
77. 4/2029: what now?Run ads (₩3,000,000) — 2 new customers this month. Few enough to know each one by name.
78. 4/4 · Service outageRight after the deploy, login broke. Restored in forty minutes, but customer messages flooded in.
79. 4/5 · Funding costs rose againThe US 10-year yield rose to 7.99%. Investors recalculated valuations, and the bank asked for more collateral.
80. Time to hire?Not this time — You never posted the job ad.
81. The Currency Calmed DownThe dollar's strength eased and the KRW/USD rate came down. Imported material costs fell a little, and anyone paying overseas suppliers could breathe again.
82. Year 3 closeRevenue ₩69,051,057, operating profit ₩9,404,137. Cash ₩66,645,455.
83. 2029 · year 4 beginsYou Found a Mentor
84. 5/19 · Selected for a grant programSelected for a government support program. The grant arrives next month; the reporting starts this week.
85. 5/29 · Personal data requestA customer asked for disclosure and deletion of their personal data. You checked the procedure again.
86. 6/16 · Your mentorYour mentor sent a link to an article. “This sounded like you.”
87. 7/18 · FamilyAt dinner nobody brought up work. You understood that was a kindness.
88. Sales is why customers stopped growingDefer for free — You spent nothing and will reconsider at another opportunity.
89. 8/20 · A competitor movedA competitor shipped the feature you were preparing, first. Their price is lower.
90. 8/25 · Down sickDay three of a cold that will not lift. No time to see a doctor.
91. 9/6 · Loan payment dayLoan payment day. ₩268,706 in principal and interest left the account. The balance is ₩18,166,093.
92. 10/23 · Demo dayYou presented at demo day. The questions were sharp, but the applause sounded genuine.
93. 10/30 · Overseas orders came backGlobal growth rose to 3.8%. An overseas partner was the first to ask about next quarter’s volume.
94. Give a project bottleneck an ownerDefer for free — You spent nothing and will reconsider at another opportunity.
95. 11/8 · Security vulnerabilityAn outside researcher reported a vulnerability. You have to check whether personal data leaked.
96. 12/20 · Your mentorLunch with an old mentor. “Forget the numbers. Are you sleeping?”
97. 12/28 · Funding costs rose againThe US 10-year yield rose to 6.84%. Investors recalculated valuations, and the bank asked for more collateral.
98. 1/11 · Service outageRight after the deploy, login broke. Restored in forty minutes, but customer messages flooded in.
99. Financing approvedBorrowing from family ₩16,000,000 · 0.0%/yr · 36 months
100. You are short of moneyBorrow from family — You brought it up with your family. The transfer was fast. The conversation stays. This money may cost more than bank interest. Borrowing from family ₩16,000,000 approved.
101. 2/16 · Personal data requestA customer asked for disclosure and deletion of their personal data. You checked the procedure again.
102. 3/6 · A competitor movedA company solving the same problem announced a funding round. Nobody in the comments mentioned you.
103. 4/20 · Loan payment dayLoan payment day. ₩713,150 in principal and interest left the account. The balance is ₩31,815,690.
104. 4/29 · An investor showed interestAn investor asked for a meeting next week. “I want a closer look at who is building this,” they said.
105. 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.
106. You Found a MentorAn industry senior offered to buy coffee. He told you, "I went under back then because I did not know this." Advice is free, but listening takes humility.
107. Year 4 closeRevenue ₩86,571,016, loss ₩56,005,396. Cash ₩17,524,829.
108. 2030 · year 5 beginsA Quiet Year
109. 5/15 · The bank asked for documentsYour bank contact changed. The new one asked for the past year’s statements again.
110. 5/21 · Demo dayYou presented at demo day. The questions were sharp, but the applause sounded genuine.
111. 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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