I don't recall there being one actual day, since we didn't go bankrupt (no company debt), we just ran out of money to keep running. I took no salary for the last year and lived on my credit cards to try to keep the company running (founders, DON'T DO THIS), so it was more a process of me realizing I was completely tapped out. I really had trouble giving up on the dream. I had been hoping we could pull out a breakthrough and make it work, but it didn't happen.

There is one day I remember very well. I had decided to throw in the towel and start looking for another job. We had been operating in a college town, and I knew the job prospects were poor there, so I took a few weeks to look for a job elsewhere. I was contacted by my apartment telling me I was being evicted. I drove back to get my stuff out and clean up. By the time I arrived, it was night. The electricity had been off for a few weeks, so the lights were out. It was a hot Florida summer, and there was no A/C, so I stripped down to my shorts and using a flashlight I moved my stuff into my car. Then I cleaned it as best as I could by the light of the flashlight. I still remember cleaning out the fridge which had been turned off for weeks, with the bugs in it jumping on my bare chest in the flickering light. I was thinking "This is not my life".

I survived that. You can survive this.