Category Archives: daily deals

Groupon finally announced the details of its much awaited IPO. The company seeks a valuation that is between 1/3 and 1/2 of what was rumored when its first S-1 was published in June. Although the numbers are on the surface … Continue reading →

When I first started writing about Groupon more than four months ago, my friend Semil asked me “Why are you the only one saying these things?” I explained that it call came down to incentives. Consider the various people involved … Continue reading →

I’ve written quite a bit about how bad a deal running Groupons is for many businesses, including the extremely lopsided merchant agreement and the potential for Groupon to damage businesses in the long term by destroying Yelp ratings. It occurred … Continue reading →

The third amendment to Groupon’s S-1 shows significant changes. Although the prospectus is cleaner and better reflects the company’s financial position, it brings to light more bad news about an already troubled offering. The most significant new issue I see … Continue reading →

This is another graph that caught my eye from the study posted by Harvard and Boston University researchers: This bears out what I’ve been hearing from Groupon insiders. In the latest amendment to the S-1, Groupon also reported that its … Continue reading →

A recent study by researchers at Harvard and Boston University confirm statistically something that I’ve long suspected: Running a Groupon can destroy your Yelp ratings. I generally recommend that restaurants and service businesses avoid running Groupons because the short-term economics … Continue reading →