Tag Archives: Groupon

A cottage industry about Groupon

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Bloggers blog about it. Generating page views – to sell their ads and click streams. 

Financial pundits opine about it.Some to sell their newsletters. And opinions. 

A network will do a sitcom with Groupon in it. To generate ratings. 

And now a book about Groupon. For a nice advance I am sure. Wonder if there will be a Groupon selling the book? Half off the cover price? Click here for details. 

I still feel we are in a quiet period – but no one else does; that is for sure. 

Groupon. What is next – a movie? Been there – done that – anyone remember- “You’ve Got Mail?”

 

 

5 years ago this week I retired from AOL

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I was concerned that I would have nothing to do – I was terrified of leaving the company that employed me for almost 14 years.

In that 5 years since I retired from AOL I have:

Acquired the Washington Wizards and Verizon Center; and spent more time with the Washington Capitals and Washington Mystics;

Made 3 films; “Nanking”;” Kicking It”; and ” A Fighting Chance”; I am working on a 4th film now too;

Founded SnagFilms; and acquired indieWIRE;

Helped to start Revolution Money- served as its chairman; sold the company to American Express; now I serve on board of directors of American Express;

Authored a book – “The Business of Happiness”;

Invested in and became Chairman of Clearspring Technologies; still serve on their board;

Invested in and serve on board and as Vice Chairman of Groupon; the company went public last month; it has a $14 billion market cap;

Made 15 angel investments in some great start ups; all told; these startups and the companies that we sold have a combined value approaching a billion dollars;

Became a partner in Revolution Growth Fund 2 – a $ 450 million ” speed up capital” fund ; focused on East Coast startups; partnered with Steve Case and Donn Davis on this NEW fund;

Bought a house – sold 2 houses;

Worked with more than 400 charities via my Family Foundation; and Monumental Sports and Entertainment Foundations and SnagFilms;

Serve on the board of directors of Georgetown University.

It has been a nonstop hectic 5 years – some of the best and most productive and enjoyable years of my career and life.

Retirement from a corporate career is nothing to be afraid of. Onward. Thank you.

Quiet Period over for Groupon

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The company has been in a “quiet period” for a long time; and even though we went public via an IPO – we couldn’t talk about the company. We were in what is called “registration”, and then you can’t talk about the company for about a month after you go public. Of course – anyone else could talk all they wanted about the company.

Here is a blog post from co-founder and CEO of Groupon Andrew Mason. In it – he does offer a glimpse of how the holiday season has kicked off. I won’t add any value to these words and numbers; what do you think of them?

It feels good to be transparent and talk or at least point to Andrew’s blog again. Thank you.