Why this founder killed his AI startup despite early success

More than three years into building Nex AI, founder Jonathan Liem shut it down – not because it was failing, but because he realized he couldn’t see himself doing it for the next decade.

He spoke with Tech in Asia on what an “unsexy” enterprise data issue taught him about the difference between a technology problem and a people problem, knowing when to quit, and why his next company is betting on a different market.

Image credit: Ulla

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

What was Nex AI?

Back in 2023, I met Jeremy Soo at school. We both had backgrounds as founders and saw the AI space was blowing up, so we decided to launch a company in Singapore.

The early versions of Nex were very unstructured. We thought about it as a solution searching for a problem, and then eventually we stumbled onto something that made sense.

At the time, AI models weren’t very good at processing data, so we built a platform to turn unstructured data into structured data for enterprises. Things like converting data from emails into ERP systems for specific procurement operations, eventually progressing to unifying data from SCADA systems directly into document processing with ERPs. Basically, it was combining big data into something that an enterprise can use.

We had some success, signing seven-figure enterprise contracts. And I was headhunted for a role at Palantir, partly because Nex AI had a similar model.

Why did you decide to shut it down?

A mix of reasons: Both Jeremy and I were pretty burnt out, and enterprise data is not an easy space.

It’s a pretty unsexy industry. Some people really love data, but for most of us, just staring at data and deduplicating data can get tiring, especially when you’re dealing with long enterprise sales cycles.

If we had been doing this in the US, the outcome might have been different. In Asia, sales are very relationship-based – there’s a lot of beating around the bush. The markets are also extremely fragmented, so there are a lot of considerations to think about depending on which market you’re doing.

See also: Why short US trips backfire for SEA founders

Jeremy decided first that he didn’t want to be in this space anymore, so we parted ways. A couple of months later, I realized I didn’t want to be in this space for the next 10 years, and that doing something that you like and believe in really matters.

Some might say, “You signed really large contracts. Doesn’t it make sense to continue that kind of thing?” But it’s not just money that matters. On top of that, Asia has very few exit opportunities.

What did trying to solve an “unsexy” problem teach you about launching a startup?

What finally led to the shutdown?

What advice would you give other founders facing a similar situation?

What are you doing now, and how did Nex inform it?

Why did you choose the US for Inflect?