CLOSED

Dev agency with its own product opened · CLOSED after 3 yr 7 mo

Emma Miller, 29 · 3 yr 7 mo

“Runway math was always “optimistic” smh”

I closed after 3 years and 7 months. No debt remained, just 5 customers.

On the last day, you posted the shutdown notice and turned off the servers. Cash $6,845, debt $0, 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 openEmma Miller, 26. You have decided to try starting a company in New York. No idea, no product yet. Savings $95,009, no job.
2. 7/2026: 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 beginsUS Rates Rose Again
4. 8/2026: what now?Interview 20 people — 2 of 20 said they would pay. 7 only said it would be "nice to have".
5. 9/2026: what now?Decide to build it — You decided to build. Validation ends here.
6. 9/8 · FamilyAt dinner nobody brought up work. You understood that was a kindness.
7. 10/2026: what now?Build it yourself — You settled on how to build it.
8. 11/2026: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
9. 12/2026: what now?Keep building — Another month the same way. Progress crept up.
10. 12/5 · A competitor movedA competitor shipped the feature you were preparing, first. Their price is lower.
11. 1/2027: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
12. 2/2027: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
13. 3/2027: what now?Keep building — Another month the same way. Progress crept up.
14. 3/22 · Funding costs rose againThe US 10-year yield rose to 5.83%. Investors recalculated valuations, and the bank asked for more collateral.
15. 4/2027: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
16. 4/25 · Your mentorAn old mentor called. “What scares you most right now?” they asked.
17. 5/2027: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
18. 6/2027: what now?Launch — You pressed launch. 190 sign-ups on day one. You refreshed ten times.
19. 6/22 · Covered in an articleAn industry outlet wrote about the product. Sign-up inquiries rose a little.
20. 6/27 · HeatwaveA heat warning. The air conditioning ran all day. The electricity bill is on your mind.
21. Time to hire?Not this time — You never posted the job ad.
22. 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.
23. Year 1 closeRevenue $391, loss $9,497. Cash $46,482.
24. 2027 · year 2 beginsA Quiet Year
25. 7/20 · Churn roseCancellations this week were double the usual. Many customers abandoned the payment page.
26. 7/22 · Server bill spikeTraffic grew, and the server bill came in far above what you expected.
27. 8/2027: what now?Spread the word through communities and content — 10 new customers this month. While the number climbs, it looks like a company.
28. 8/13 · Patent warning letterA cease-and-desist letter arrived claiming possible patent infringement. A lawyer needs to review it.
29. 9/2027: what now?Incorporate — The company is registered. Your business card now says CEO.
30. The numbers are inChange direction — You pivoted to «Dev agency with its own product» and apologised to the customers who stayed.
31. 10/14 · Funding costs rose againThe US 10-year yield rose to 6.18%. Investors recalculated valuations, and the bank asked for more collateral.
32. 10/21 · Your mentorYour mentor sent a link to an article. “This sounded like you.”
33. 11/2027: what now?Keep building — What you built today, you fixed tomorrow. Progress still went up.
34. 11/13 · Down sickDay three of a cold that will not lift. No time to see a doctor.
35. 12/2027: what now?Keep building — You crossed three lines off the list. Two new ones appeared.
36. 12/14 · A competitor movedA company solving the same problem announced a funding round. Nobody in the comments mentioned you.
37. 1/2028: what now?Launch — You pressed launch. 0 sign-ups on day one. You refreshed ten times.
38. 1/21 · FamilyAt dinner nobody brought up work. You understood that was a kindness.
39. 1/29 · Server bill spikeA test server you forgot to switch off had been running all month.
40. 2/2028: what now?Spread the word through communities and content — No new customers this month. The channel has to change.
41. 2/12 · Churn roseCancellations this week were double the usual. Many customers abandoned the payment page.
42. 3/2028: what now?Keep going — Spread the word through communities and content — No new customers this month. The channel has to change.
43. 3/7 · Covered in an articleAn industry outlet wrote about the product. Sign-up inquiries rose a little.
44. Give a project bottleneck an ownerDefer for free — You spent nothing and will reconsider at another opportunity.
45. 4/7 · Patent warning letterA cease-and-desist letter arrived claiming possible patent infringement. A lawyer needs to review it.
46. 4/15 · Service outageThe payment processor went down for two hours. Not your fault, but you wrote the apology.
47. 6/5 · Your mentorLunch with an old mentor. “Forget the numbers. Are you sleeping?”
48. Sales is why customers stopped growingDefer for free — You spent nothing and will reconsider at another opportunity.
49. 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.
50. Year 2 closeRevenue $170,932, operating profit $104,899. Cash $107,781.
51. 2028 · year 3 beginsA Quiet Year
52. 7/13 · Security vulnerabilityAn outside researcher reported a vulnerability. You have to check whether personal data leaked.
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. 8/26 · Funding costs rose againThe US 10-year yield rose to 5.80%. Investors recalculated valuations, and the bank asked for more collateral.
55. 9/8 · FamilyYou talked with your family for a long time. Someone said, “You come before the money.”
56. A specialist could unblock the productDefer for free — You spent nothing and will reconsider at another opportunity.
57. 11/5 · A competitor movedA company solving the same problem announced a funding round. Nobody in the comments mentioned you.
58. 12/5 · Your mentorYour mentor sent a link to an article. “This sounded like you.”
59. AI redrew the marketIgnore it — You did not buy the tools. Six months later, a competitor offered the same service at half the price.
60. 1/11 · Service outageRight after the deploy, login broke. Restored in forty minutes, but customer messages flooded in.
61. 1/23 · Security vulnerabilityAn outside researcher reported a vulnerability. You have to check whether personal data leaked.
62. 2/4 · Funding costs rose againThe US 10-year yield rose to 5.80%. Investors recalculated valuations, and the bank asked for more collateral.
63. 2/17 · Patent warning letterA cease-and-desist letter arrived claiming possible patent infringement. A lawyer needs to review it.
64. 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.
65. 4/16 · Server bill spikeA test server you forgot to switch off had been running all month.
66. 4/13 · Income tax paidYou paid $37,817 of tax on last year’s profit. The year is over; the bill arrived today.
67. 6/15 · FamilyAt dinner nobody brought up work. You understood that was a kindness.
68. Your biggest customer is leavingOffer half price to keep them — They signed a one-year extension at half the price.
69. 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.
70. Year 3 closeRevenue $172,465, operating profit $2,389. Cash $57,167.
71. 2029 · year 4 beginsFake Investor
72. 7/27 · A competitor movedA big company bolted a similar feature onto its product, free. More customers now ask, “How are you different?”
73. 8/11 · Security vulnerabilityAn outside researcher reported a vulnerability. You have to check whether personal data leaked.
74. 9/6 · Down sickA sore throat and a fever. You got through the day in a mask.
75. 9/7 · HeatwaveA heat warning. The air conditioning ran all day. The electricity bill is on your mind.
76. Financing declinedThe Bank working-capital loan application was declined.
77. 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.
78. 10/22 · Service outageThe payment processor went down for two hours. Not your fault, but you wrote the apology.
79. 11/20 · Server bill spikeThe free cloud credits ran out. From this month the bill is the real number.
80. The runway is running outTake a bridge round — The investor laughed. "Just pay me back double next round." You did not laugh.
81. 12/11 · FamilyAt dinner nobody brought up work. You understood that was a kindness.
82. 12/15 · Covered in an articleAn industry outlet wrote about the product. Sign-up inquiries rose a little.
83. Financing declinedThe Bank working-capital loan application was declined.
84. 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.
85. 1/17 · Selected for a grant programSelected for a government support program. The grant arrives next month; the reporting starts this week.
86. 1/26 · An investor showed interestAn investor asked for a meeting next week. “I want a closer look at who is building this,” they said.
87. 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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