Associated Press
SEATTLE – After running through $8 million in investment cash over the past 16 months, Seattle-based online errand service MyLackey.com called it quits, laying off its entire 85-person workforce.
The company, which allowed customers to have their dry cleaning picked up or their dogs walked by “lackeys” on call via a Web site, couldn’t raise any more venture capital and was not profitable.
MyLackey.com had just raised $6.5 million in April, but decided to close down instead of burning through the remainder of its cash, said Brian McGarvey, the company’s 32-year-old co-founder.
“It has been a phenomenal ride,” McGarvey said. “Of course, we could have done some things better. But who would have known? It had never been done before, and it wasn’t like there was a book you could open up for the answers.”
The company will not file for bankruptcy, instead using the rest of its venture capital to close down. Employees will receive salaries until the end of the month and will keep benefits until the end of the year.
MyLackey.com provided personal services in Washington, D.C., Seattle and Portland, Ore. It had planned to expand to seven other cities, including New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
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