LivingSocial expected to lay off 400 in U.S.

During their hiring explosion, I had a hunch that I shouldn't have gone forward with an interview there. I think I made a good decision...

Something in my gut just said "who cares?" about the work. I couldn't get a straight answer on what I'd be building or why I should believe they would keep growing.

Maybe Hungry Academy wasn't such a good idea after all...

I still wonder about the daily-deal business model. The premise that loss-leading discounts will spark increased retail-price customers is losing its believability. In my circle I've never heard a business referred to as "that place I found on Groupon" -- I've really only seen it used as a marketplace for deep discounts on one-time (or nearly one-time) purchases. A groupon for skydiving or a guided tour? It doesn't make any sense.

For the businesses fueling daily deals, the cost of customer acquisition skyrockets. For customers getting the deal, returning to the business to pay full price is hard to swallow. It's going to take some real business intelligence to turn these daily deal companies around.

That said, my heart goes out to the 400+ employees looking at lose their jobs before Christmas. That sucks, a lot.

I think for the most part daily deals were a macro- experiment. Everyone jumped on board - startups, businesses of all shape and sizes, as well as end-customers with high hopes everyone would win.

I think what were finding out through the experiment is that it just isn't really sustainable for much of anyone. I dont know if that segment will be disappearing anytime soon but the model will have to adapt.

Yes, I agree that it is an excellent idea.