Author Archives: Rakesh Agrawal

About Rakesh Agrawal

Rakesh Agrawal is a 0-1 product leader. Ex-Amazon, Ex-Microsoft, as well as a number of startups. He tweets at @rakeshsfnyc

Comments from an Australian daily deals site that pivoted

Posted on August 11, 2011 by Rakesh Agrawal

Here is an email exchange I had with an Australian deals site that pivoted away from the daily deals model. Note that, as I’ve said in the past, an upfront payment model encourages fraud from merchants who take the money … Continue reading →

Posted in daily deals, groupon | 1 Comment

The SEC should have Groupon start over on its S-1

Posted on August 11, 2011 by Rakesh Agrawal

I’ve spent much of the last two days dissecting the second amendment to the Groupon S-1. I was hoping to post my complete thoughts tonight, but I’ve seen so much shoddy reporting on this S-1 that I want to make … Continue reading →

Posted in groupon | 6 Comments

Groupon’s new S-1 shows even more cause for worry

Posted on August 10, 2011 by Rakesh Agrawal

A few initial thoughts on the Groupon S-1. I will have an updated post later tonight. The key takeaway from Groupon’s amended S-1 is that the company’s best days in terms of revenue growth are behind it. Groupon has been … Continue reading →

Posted in groupon | 3 Comments

Groupon’s other funny numbers

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Rakesh Agrawal

It seems Groupon might be dumping Adjusted CSOI, its much ridiculed accounting metric that I frequently describe as “the best possible way to view our business if you ignore all the things that make our business look terrible.” Although CSOI … Continue reading →

Posted in groupon | 14 Comments

Answers from the Insurance Information Institute on Airbnb

Posted on August 1, 2011 by Rakesh Agrawal

This is a Q&A with Loretta Worters of the Insurance Information Institute on insurance coverage and short-term rental sites like Airbnb. See the companion piece which looks at other risks with Airbnb and includes comments from State Farm. If a … Continue reading →

Posted in airbnb | 50 Comments

Google should just buy Twitter already. At any price.

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Rakesh Agrawal

I’ve been thinking more about Google+ since my TechCrunch post on the Google circles colliding. Even if you buy the argument that categorizing your friends into buckets offers user value (which I don’t), that is not a defensible feature for … Continue reading →

Posted in facebook, google, twitter | 5 Comments

Selling value, not price

Posted on July 3, 2011 by Rakesh Agrawal

I had an interesting Twitter exchange this morning with Milk and Honey Spa in Austin, who recently started following me. Have you run a Groupon or daily deal? No. The economics have never worked out and risk to brand has been … Continue reading →

Posted in groupon, marketing | 2 Comments

My great Groupon customer service experience

Posted on June 27, 2011 by Rakesh Agrawal

In early May, I bought a Groupon for Robb’s Really Good Food. It’s a food cart in Portland, Ore. Before I got a chance to use it, Robb sold his food cart. (He plans to open a new one.) I … Continue reading →

Posted in groupon | 15 Comments

Things I love

Posted on June 26, 2011 by Rakesh Agrawal

I know there has been a lot of negativity on this blog lately in connection with my coverage of the daily deals space. New readers may be wondering, what the hell? Does this guy like anything? Well, in fact I … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment