This MyLackey mural, since covered, remained on the side of a building in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood for years after the company closed. (Photo by Belltown Messenger, via Flickr.)
This MyLackey mural, since covered, remained on the side of a building in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood for years after the company closed. (Photo by Belltown Messenger, via Flickr.)

The past year has brought a new wave of on-demand services to cities around the country — with groceries, dinner, a personal driver and much more available at your door with the press of a button on your smartphone.

Brian McGarvey in the KIRO Radio Studios. (Erynn Rose photo).
Former “Chief Lackey” Brian McGarvey in the KIRO Radio Studios. (Erynn Rose photo).

Brian McGarvey has been here before — minus the smartphone — as the chief executive of MyLackey during the dot-com boom.

Remember MyLackey? This was the ambitious startup that offered a wide variety of errands and tasks — everything from picking up dry cleaning to walking your dog — which ultimately became one of many companies to go bust when the dot-com bubble burst.

We had fun catching up with McGarvey on the GeekWire radio show this week, including a bonus segment for podcast listeners. McGarvey, now a vice president at the Rhapsody music service, offers his perspective on the new generation of on-demand services, including Amazon Prime Now, which launched just this week in Manhattan. We also talk in detail about grocery delivery, recapping our review of Amazon Fresh, Instacart and Safeway.com.

That conversation begins in the second segment, at 9:40 in the audio player below.

The show starts with our weekly news roundup, covering the big IPO for cancer-fighting biotech startup Juno Therapeutics, plans by the Pacific Science Center to upgrade its IMAX theater, and a big investment by Bill Gates and Madrona Venture Group in a secretive radar technology startup.

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