[GenJx]

i found the groupon CEO goodbye letter interesting, seems like a good guy. he founded the company

People of Groupon,

After four and a half intense and wonderful years as CEO of Groupon, I've decided that I'd like to spend more time with my family. Just kidding - I was fired today. If you're wondering why... you haven't been paying attention. From controversial metrics in our S1 to our material weakness to two quarters of missing our own expectations and a stock price that's hovering around one quarter of our listing price, the events of the last year and a half speak for themselves. As CEO, I am accountable.

You are doing amazing things at Groupon, and you deserve the outside world to give you a second chance. I'm getting in the way of that. A fresh CEO earns you that chance. The board is aligned behind the strategy we've shared over the last few months, and I've never seen you working together more effectively as a global company - it's time to give Groupon a relief valve from the public noise.

For those who are concerned about me, please don't be - I love Groupon, and I'm terribly proud of what we've created. I'm OK with having failed at this part of the journey. If Groupon was Battletoads, it would be like I made it all the way to the Terra Tubes without dying on my first ever play through. I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to take the company this far with all of you. I'll now take some time to decompress (FYI I'm looking for a good fat camp to lose my Groupon 40, if anyone has a suggestion), and then maybe I'll figure out how to channel this experience into something productive.

If there's one piece of wisdom that this simple pilgrim would like to impart upon you: have the courage to start with the customer. My biggest regrets are the moments that I let a lack of data override my intuition on what's best for our customers. This leadership change gives you some breathing room to break bad habits and deliver sustainable customer happiness - don't waste the opportunity!

I will miss you terribly.

Love,

Andrew

[Emancipator]

The thing is Andrew Mason was very quirky, and Wall St. does not like quirky CEOs, unless the company is doing EXTREMELY well. That's why when Groupon was more hidden Mason did fine at expanding.

Like his response though, good Battletoads analogy.

[Samseau]

Quote:

If Groupon was Battletoads, it would be like I made it all the way to the Terra Tubes without dying on my first ever play through

Such an awesome reference

One of the hardest games of all time

[Matt3B]

We should have an old school 2D video game thread. That game looks fucking hard and looks like it actually challenges your mind. Ahh, those were the days.

Try play some of the older games on the SNES, Mega Drive (Genesis) or even Crash Bandicoot on the PS1. Games have been seriously dumbed down these days.

Anyway, that was a good response from him. No bullshitting, no grovelling and taking accountability.

[EasyMoney]

Nice to see a non full of shit corporate dude.

[BlurredSevens]

I'e been fascinated with the story of Andrew Mason - he was a normal kid with no entrepreneurial experience whatsoever, just an idea, and the ability to persuade others to invest in him. Now he's a 32 year-old millionaire that can do whatever he wants for the rest of his life. Zero-to-hero in about 5 years time.

Stories like this remind me why I love America.

[renotime]

I can't believe they didn't sell to google.

[BlurredSevens]

(03-01-2013 12:50 PM)renotime Wrote:  

I can't believe they didn't sell to google.

Wasn't so simple at the time. Google couldn't guarantee that the DOJ wouldn't block the deal on anti-trust grounds. If they didn't allow the $6B deal to go through, Google would have paid Groupon an $800M cancellation fee (of sorts) and it probably would have been game over for Mason and the rest of Groupon.

Considering they were pulling in $50M/month at the time, it simply wasn't worth the risk.