Groupon
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
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Sections to complete：02 · 05
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Groupon, founded in Chicago in November 2008 by Andrew Mason (with co-founder Eric Lefkofsky) out of the tipping-point site The Point, pioneered the daily-deals e-commerce marketplace: subscribers received a daily email with heavily discounted coupons for local restaurants, theatres and spas, which merchants redeemed in exchange for commissions. It became the fastest-growing internet company ever to reach a $1 billion valuation, rejected a $6 billion takeover bid from Google in December 2010, and listed on Nasdaq in November 2011 in a $750 million IPO. Founder-CEO Andrew Mason was fired in February 2013 after missed expectations.
02 / FAILURE REASONS
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Founded
Andrew Mason founded Groupon in Chicago in November 2008 out of The Point, sending a single daily deal email to subscribers.
- Google bid rejected
Groupon rejected a $6 billion takeover bid from Google in December 2010 and continued expanding internationally.
- IPO
Groupon listed on Nasdaq in November 2011 in a $750 million IPO, closing the year with about 33 million active customers.
- CEO fired
Founder and CEO Andrew Mason was fired in February 2013 after the company missed expectations and the stock fell about 77% from its IPO price.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN / AFTERMATH
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.