Monthly Archives: April 2012

Weekly Reader: Groupon, Sonos, why air travel sucks

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Rakesh Agrawal

I didn’t write any posts this week! I spent the first part of the week in Chicago chatting with current and former Groupon employees and with the folks at edo Interactive, Braintree and GrubHub. GrubHub has a very interesting product … Continue reading →

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Weekly Reader: Facebook virality, Twitter patents and Groupon’s Lefkofsky

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Rakesh Agrawal

This contains a summary of my work this week. I had two very important non-Groupon stories this week, on Facebook and Twitter. My work Secrets of Facebook’s success: Virality — Facebook’s photo tagging feature was an important driver of its growth. … Continue reading →

Posted in daily deals, facebook, groupon, twitter | 2 Comments

Staying connected with friends for frequent travelers

Posted on April 19, 2012 by Rakesh Agrawal

Since the mid-90s, I’ve been a frequent traveler. I’ve flown more than a million miles and stayed the equivalent of several years in hotel rooms. All of this can take a big toll on friendships and relationships. I recently came … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

“It just works” rules

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Rakesh Agrawal

Back in the day, I used to like to tinker with software and set configurations and such. The picture above is me working on my Commodore 64 a long, long time go. Back then, I rocked BASIC. I even wrote … Continue reading →

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Bet with Paul Kedrosky

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Rakesh Agrawal

I have this bet with Paul Kedrosky: If Groupon’s market cap falls below $6 billion on any day on or before June 3, I win. If Groupon’s market cap stays above $6 billion until after June 3, Paul wins. Market … Continue reading →

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Another open letter to Andrew Mason

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Rakesh Agrawal

Dear Andrew: As you may have heard, I am coming back to Chicago in the next couple of weeks for another round of Groupon research. Although you didn’t take me up on my invitation the last time I visited Chicago, … Continue reading →

Posted in daily deals, groupon | 4 Comments

In Chicago April 21-25

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Rakesh Agrawal

I’m due for a trip to the Windy City for some Giordano’s, my pilgrimage to Wrigley, and of course to visit my friends at 600 W. Chicago and the Motel Bar. While I’m in Chicago I would love to speak … Continue reading →

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Proposed stakes for a new bet with Felix Salmon

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Rakesh Agrawal

Bet is based on Groupon’s market cap as a percentage of Priceline’s market cap at the close of trading on April 9, 2013. Wolfram Alpha numbers will be used. If the ratio is below 15%: Felix will buy Rocky dinner … Continue reading →

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Look at the logo Google News puts next to Groupon

Posted on April 7, 2012 by Rakesh Agrawal

From this morning, a search on Groupon returned these results: I think I’ve made the Groupon and Enron comparison myself. In both cases, you had high-flying companies that focused on short-term growth while ignoring the underlying risks of what they … Continue reading →

Posted in daily deals, groupon | 2 Comments

Why I like the American Express approach to offers

Posted on April 7, 2012 by Rakesh Agrawal

I am in Las Vegas and went out to dinner last night a the Public House, a fantastic restaurant at the Venetian. We were having a great meal when several of us decided to check in on foursquare. (Hey, we’re from … Continue reading →

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