Inside Judys Book Closure

TrenchMice and Andy Sack have an interesting view into the recent close down of Judy’s Book here in Seattle. The most fascinating part of the story at both sites is when the owners and operators decided to call it a day, the decision making process around shutting down a company is difficult, and this insight into what they were thinking, things they would have done differently adds much value to anyone thinking of starting a company, and the often difficult decisions that they are going to have to make.

We did a lot of things right in the first 2 years of Judy’s Book business (FYI - July 2004 was the start of the business), but I think we made two reasonably big mistakes. Both mistakes prevented us as a company from achieving critical mass as a company in a specific geography — i.e. Seattle. Source; A Sack of Seattle

With TrenchMice providing this viewpoint

Only Andy and his board know all the variables they had to evaluate to make this painful decision. That he writes about it so openly is enormously brave. The decision was right for him and his board, and that’s all that matters. Source: TrenchMice

While Techcrunch but them into the dead pool when Andy Sack called and let them know, the interesting part is not so much the failure of the company, but what Andy is saying about why the company failed and things that they could have done differently. If you are running a serious social site, where users are important to the company, then these are some good lessons to take heed of.

This is the kind of inside information that people pay money for, and Andy is giving it away for free. It is worth checking out, as well as checking out some of the other information on the site. If you want to hear the inside story of a startup implosion, this is the site to read.