Mahalo, the human-powered search site founded by serial entrepreneur Jason Calacanis, lowered the headcount on its 20-25 member editorial staff.

According to Calacanis, 10% of full-time staff was cut in tandem with other reorganizational efforts. About 70 freelancers will be retained, lending a flicker of credibility to the claim of a former employee, who told Silicon Alley Insider that some jobs would migrate overseas.

"The net result of the effort is we are giving Mahalo another year of "dry power" (or runway) to complete our mission," Calacanis wrote, adding "we can now operate past 2012 even if we never make any advertising revenue."

But even after justifying the cuts, Calacanis blamed himself for his inability to see how cold this "internet winter" would get. "It’s much worse than I thought it would be, and ignoring market conditions today would only mean deeper cuts down the road," he lamented.

"To the people impacted I'm very sorry that I wasn't able to anticipate this better […] I'm sorry that you've got to bear the burden of my inability to better prepare."

In early October, Calacanis reported that Mahalo hit 4.6 million unique visitors in August, but remains unprofitable. The founder wanted to hit 10 to 15 million uniques before placing ads on the site.

Mahalo debuted in May 2007.