Posts Tagged ‘groupon’

Lolz! SEC Says WTF to Groupon Accounting Language

Friday, July 29th, 2011

social-media.jpg
(image credit: webtreats)

You know how (old) people are always saying that “texting and Facebook are the end of the world because kids can’t write anymore and say ‘u’ instead of ‘you,’ blah blah blah?” (like, omg, it’s nbd…)

Well, the SEC is now taking issue with the way Groupon and other start-ups are reporting their finances. Groupon, which is preparing for its IPO (i.e. selling shares of itself to the general public), is using some new – and misleading, according to a lot of financial experts and regulators – terminology to talk about how much money they are worth.

Other web and social media start-ups have done this sort of thing in the past – like talking about “eyeballs” (the number of people who view a website) instead of dollars to demonstrate a company’s value. However, some are saying Groupon is going too far, and others are saying stuff like “eyeballs” should never have been put next to traditional financial metrics in the first place.

So, do you think this is just an example of old finance not really getting the new way stuff works, or are Groupon and Zynga trying to punk us?

Here Isn’t An Offer From Groupon: Shares Of Stock!

Saturday, January 29th, 2011

“Groupon Inc., which last month rejected a $6 billion takeover offer from Google Inc., isn’t convinced it will sell shares in an initial public offering anytime soon, said Chief Executive Officer Andrew Mason.

The biggest daily deal website’s commitment to proceeding with an IPO this year is ‘less than 100 percent, that’s for sure,’ Mason said in an interview at the Digital-Life-Design conference in Munich. ‘An IPO is something we are considering, but we’re just trying to learn more about the option at this point and understand the benefits and drawbacks.’ ”

What do you think?

Is Groupon missing an opportunity to dominate the market now that it’s turned down a $6 billion buyout from Google AND put off becoming a publicly-traded company? When was the last time you suffered from hesitating? Was hesitating ever the right thing to do?

What Happens When You Tell Google To Take A Hike?

Thursday, December 23rd, 2010

Apparently they fund one of your competitors and DESTROY YOU.

(Back story: Google offered to buy wildly successful Internet coupon company Groupon for $6 billion. Groupon said, “meh.”)

Read the original:
BBC News, 12/21/20: Google eyes smaller players after Groupon: report

Groupon Will Not Be Googled

Monday, December 6th, 2010

They can probably find a better deal anyway.

  • Google allegedly offered $6 billion for the popular online coupon company – the most expensive acquisition in Google history. The initial offer was between $3.5 – 4 billion.
  • Online coupons have never been more popular, and Google was eager to get a piece of the action. They think that advertising locally is about to become really, really big.
  • Groupon is currently owned by a private group of investors, but it may go for an initial public offering (IPO) in 2011.

Facts & Figures

  • Over 33 million people subscribe to Groupon’s daily emails
  • Google is currently sitting on $33 billion in cash and other assets
  • Groupon made $500 million in sales this year – it’s growing at a faster rate than Google or Amazon did

Discount Philanthropy Doubles Your Donation

Friday, June 4th, 2010

Deal-of-the-day website Groupon.com makes good by making deals to donate.

  • Groupon, a website which offers no-strings-attached regional discounts on everything from restaurants to salons to cleaning services, has partnered with DonorsChoose.org to offer Groupon users half priced donations.
  • DonorsChoose.org allows public school teachers to describe materials they need or projects they’d like to do, and donors choose to support the ones they like.
  • The way it works is The Pershing Square Foundation matches what each Groupon donor contributes, making a $50 contribution worth $100.
  • DonorsChoose hopes to raise $1 million via the partnership with Groupon.

Best Quote

“I hope that what we’re doing with Groupon will show people that somebody who only has $10 to spare will be a philanthropist.” – Charles Best, Founder of DonorsChoose.org.