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

Sam Altman will clean your house for $5

Posted on June 24, 2011 by Rakesh Agrawal

That’s right, the CEO of Loopt will personally clean your house for $5. But only if 1,000 people sign up. Only, I haven’t told him about the deal yet. He may not agree, but I’m using his name anyway. Hell, … Continue reading →

Posted in mobile, mobile search | 16 Comments

Virgin America knows how to make daily deals work

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Rakesh Agrawal

I admit it. I am in the bag for Virgin America. I have been since before they took off. (Literally.) I once live tweeted a flight to San Diego using their in-flight WiFi. Savvy travelers will recognize that the picture … Continue reading →

Posted in advertising, airlines, groupon, local search | 4 Comments

LivingSocial merchant agreement

Posted on June 16, 2011 by Rakesh Agrawal

See the Groupon, LivingSocial and daily deals merchant FAQ. LivingSocial Merchant Agreement (US) v1.3 CONFIDENTIAL LIVINGSOCIAL MERCHANT SERVICE AGREEMENT Order Form This LivingSocial Merchant Service Agreement Order Form is governed by the attached LivingSocial Merchant Service Agreement Standard Terms & … Continue reading →

Posted in livingsocial | 8 Comments

Revised Groupon merchant agreement

Posted on June 15, 2011 by Rakesh Agrawal

Here is a sample merchant agreement that I received. This one is from January 2011. Merchant Agreement Date of Agreement: 1/XX/2011 Merchant Name(herein referred to as “Merchant”): This “Merchant Agreement” or “Agreement”, effective as of the above date (“Effective Date”), … Continue reading →

Posted in groupon | 10 Comments

Shop Talk: A conversation with a Groupon merchant

Posted on June 10, 2011 by Rakesh Agrawal

I apologize for the poor audio quality in the video. Yes, I know I should have put a mic on her, but this was shot with a point-and-shoot digital camera without an external mic jack. The TechCrunch story has biggest … Continue reading →

Posted in groupon | 19 Comments

A look at Groupon’s extremely lopsided merchant agreement

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Rakesh Agrawal

See the Groupon, LivingSocial and daily deals merchant FAQ. Last night I posted a Groupon merchant contract I received. When reading this analysis, please keep in mind that I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. It’s simply … Continue reading →

Posted in groupon | 62 Comments

How daily deal companies could improve the merchant experience — and why they won’t

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Rakesh Agrawal

There are a number of ways that daily deal companies could improve the economics for merchants. Limit the number of deals people can buy in a set period of time. This would discourage deal habituation. (Of course, this isn’t in … Continue reading →

Posted in groupon, livingsocial | 21 Comments

A sample Groupon merchant agreement

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Rakesh Agrawal

See the Groupon, LivingSocial and daily deals merchant FAQ. Please note that this agreement is a bit more than a year old. I also published a Groupon agreement from January 2011. If anyone has a fresher one and wants to … Continue reading →

Posted in groupon | 20 Comments

Best practices for businesses considering Groupon, LivingSocial or Google Offers

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Rakesh Agrawal

I speak to a lot of businesses about their daily deals experiences. Some have been good and others have been had. Here’s a summary of how to make the best of your daily deals experience. I’ll be updating this post … Continue reading →

Posted in groupon | 20 Comments

The experience is the product

Posted on June 1, 2011 by Rakesh Agrawal

Apple retail stores celebrated their 10th anniversary last week. The stores have defied all analyst expectations and have become the highest grossing retailers in the world. The company’s market cap exceeds all of the other players in tech. Its $5,000 … Continue reading →