Comments on: Is Groupon killing its IPO, or is it dying of natural causes?

By: frank

frank — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 14:21:07 +0000

The biggest issue with this company is the flawed business model. Take it’s bread and butter industry restaurants for example. The basic idea – discount your product heavily to get customers in the door (show them a good experience and they will return). The good restaurants dont need to discount 50-75% to get customers so Groupon is of no appeal. The crap restaurants that do Groupon type deals offer a poor experience and the customers dont return. The other big issue is paying businesses prior to servicing customers. Now when you go to a restaurant normally you pay after your meal. In a Groupon scenario they are often paid 80% of their money before you walk in, thus encouraging the business to offer a lower level of product/service

By: person287

person287 — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 12:44:49 +0000

I’ve never used groupon, partly due to the massive amount of pop-under ads for it. No other legitimate company uses pop-unders that I know of, it’s just dodgy.

By: Tigran Mekikian

Tigran Mekikian — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 20:02:25 +0000

Groupon, exit stage left. They have big issue until they resolve the disparity between consumer and merchant. On the other hand I came across a site called http://www.shooka.com that appears to have made the connect.

By: christy

christy — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 19:07:01 +0000

Anyone remeber enron? Sounds like these Groupon companies will be a big a hit as enron was…..

By: Justin Cener

Justin Cener — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 16:48:32 +0000

Great read, Matt. I love how they’re still trying to justify ACSOI. Sure, it’s not a recurring expense, but it is THE expense. Groupon, in simplest form, is an email list and it’s costly to build a good list.

I read an analysis of their S-1 and they’re paying $5 per signup. As a catch-all site, that’s a lot of money for a non-targeted customer. What seems more troubling is their revenue per deal fell from last quarter. I think their main issue is deal fatigue and lack of targeting. On a weekly basis, how many of their emails are considered spam to the average buyer? Niche is the future of Daily Deals!

By: joe patel

joe patel — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 16:22:46 +0000

The only thing that can go wrong is the interest rate of Mason’s saving account go any lower if that is possible.

By: justa

justa — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 14:00:35 +0000

They could make it…if the founders believe enough in the company to put back the money they took off the table. What are the odds of that happening?

By: Mathew Ingram

Mathew Ingram — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 12:34:47 +0000

Thanks, Bernard.

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 08:53:56 +0000

The SEC is — at minimum — going to delay the IPO for them. Mason’s letter basically says, “We mollified the SEC with the current version of the S-1 but we don’t really believe it.” The problem for Groupon now is where do they come up with a few hundred million dollars to get through the rest of the year without the IPO. Having to do a mezzanine funding after pulling one’s IPO isa nightmare unto itself. And let’s be clear: They cannot make 2012 without funding.

By: Bernard Moon

Bernard Moon — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 06:34:51 +0000

Spot on and money title. Love it.