Tomorrow Times was Taiwan's first online newspaper — it burned NT$440M in one year

明日報 (Tomorrow Times) was Taiwan's first fully digital newspaper and the world's first online-only newspaper with no physical edition. It launched on February 15, 2000, founded by PChome Online chairman 詹宏志 (Jamie Lin) in partnership with The Journalist (新新聞). The venture raised NT$170 million in initial capital and recruited 200 journalists, betting that Taiwan's internet advertising market would grow fast enough to support a large, professional newsroom.

The dot-com bubble burst in April 2000, just two months after launch. Seven venture capital firms that had promised a second round of funding withdrew. The company's monthly expenses were NT$20 million, but advertising revenue was less than one-ninth of that. Without a second funding round, the math was unsustainable. The site had 1.2 million monthly unique visitors, but online advertising in Taiwan was still too small to monetize that audience.

On February 21, 2001, exactly one year and six days after launch, the board voted to shut down. The company had accumulated NT$300 million in operating losses, and closure costs added another NT$140 million — a total of NT$440 million (approximately US$14 million at the time). All 200 employees were laid off, though 150 were placed at Taiwan Next Magazine (臺灣壹週刊) through a connection with the founders.