Judy's Book reborn with new investors

Call it Judy's Book 2.0. 

A group of Seattle angel investors has purchased the assets of the Internet startup and is retooling the site to address its original mission of helping people find qualified dentists, plumbers, restaurants and other local service providers. An e-mail blast was sent to the Judy's Book membership base in the past two months and the company is already heading toward about one million page views per month.

The news of the rebirth comes almost a year to the day that Judy's Book laid off nearly all of its staff.  

So who's behind the new Judy's Book?

Madrona Venture Group's Geoff Entress and BuddyTV co-founders David Niu and Andy Liu quietely purchased the assets in a deal of undisclosed size a few months ago. That's an interesting group in part because all three are tied to the original Judy's Book co-founders, Andy Sack and Chris Devore. (Entress, Niu and Liu recently invested in the Founder's Co-op, a new Internet incubator in Seattle led by Sack and Devore.)

"When we heard that Judy's Book was turning off the lights we thought very highly of the site and thought they had built something pretty cool and that there was a gem of a property there," said Liu. "We had the opportunity to make an offer on the assets and we feel pretty privileged to run it again."

Liu declined to say how much they paid, though it sounds as if the budget is nowhere near what it was when the Seattle startup was backed with $10.5 million from Ignition Partners, Ackerley Partners and others. At this point, the company employs just one developer, Mike Ma, who is managing day-to-day operations of the site.

Though competing bids were offered for Judy's Book, Liu said their winning price tag represented  a "rational deal" for the investors. Liu noted that the purchase of the Judy's Book assets occurred before they got involved with the Founder's Co-op. And he stressed that Sack's involvement in the new version of the company is limited.

In an e-mail, Sack said he's not involved with Judy's Book. "Other than the occasional question about the market, I have no involvement in JB," he said.

Liu said that Judy's Book users were passionate about the brand, creating an inherent audience of Internet users. "We want to re-tap into that," he said. "We thought a fresh pair of eyes and some fresh energy might be able to reignite that passion in the site." 

Judy's Book once again will face off against CitySearch and Yelp, two entrenched players in the online city guide arena. But Liu thinks there is room to compete against those stalwarts by tapping into a slightly different demographic, going after the "soccer moms" who need help finding local service providers.

According to Liu, Yelp is designed more for the twenty-something bar and restaurant crowd.

The new Judy's Book has been keeping a low profile ever since the asset purchase, but Liu said they are starting to gain traction again with what he described as the company's  "passionate fan base." Judy's Book plans to make money through targeted advertising.

Could this signal a trend of restarting dead Internet properties?

Liu, for one, said he's interested in exploring the concept further as opportunities arise.

"We don't have time to run them," he said. "But we lend a lot of expertise to get them on to the road to success."