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Andrew Mason's statement about being fired as Groupon CEO

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Re: Andrew Mason's statement about being fired as Groupon CEO

#171

Post by checker »

kurtvarner wrote: post #22
sethbannon wrote: post #4

Full text of his statement: (This is for Groupon employees, but I’m posting it publicly since it will leak anyway) People of Groupon, After four and a half intense and wonderful years as CEO of Groupon, I’ve decided that I’d like to spend more time with my family. Just kidding – I was fired today. If you’re wondering why… you haven’t been paying attention. From controversial metrics in our S1 to our material weakness…

He's being replaced by Executive Chairman Eric Lefkofsky and Vice Chairman Ted Leonisis. They will serve as co-CEOs until they find a permanent replacement. Here is Lefkofsky's statment: On behalf of the entire Groupon Board, I want to thank Andrew for his leadership, his creativity and his deep loyalty to Groupon. As a founder, Andrew helped invent the daily deals space, leading Groupon to become one of the fastest…

No wonder the Capitals have been struggling. Ted's been overextended between them, the Wizards, and the Groupon restructuring.

Re: Andrew Mason's statement about being fired as Groupon CEO

#172

Post by jyu »

OGC wrote: post #169
BostonCFO2 wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's true. Groupon's accounting gimmickry is extensive, and began pre-IPO (recognizing full purchase price of coupon when they are only acting as an "agent" (middleman) not as a "principal" (i.e., making the food, owning the spas for the massages etc.), which as a CFO I can tell you is Accounting 101. Among other places: http://bit.ly/Y3hfft And yes Rocky Agrawal and the Grumpy Accountants Professors and PrivCo. And…

> It's true. Groupon's accounting gimmickry is extensive, and began pre-IPO (recognizing full purchase price of coupon when they are only acting as an "agent" (middleman) not as a "principal" (i.e., making the food, owning the spas for the massages etc.), which as a CFO I can tell you is Accounting 101. How this is supposed to be an accounting issue and not fraud is beyond me.

Many (if not all) public companies have two sets of books. One they use to show investors and shareholders, and another used to make managerial accounting decisions.

Sure their investor/shareholder books may seem deceptive, but it's legal and everything is there for us to see and analyze. I have done this type of analysis in MBA level accounting case studies. It's really fun when you see the whole class conclude one thing, but then later find out everyone's wrong due to misinterpreting a few assumptions.

Re: Andrew Mason's statement about being fired as Groupon CEO

#173

Post by jyu »

dglassan wrote: post #105
wpietri wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A good place to look is Rocky Agrawal's articles on Groupon. Here's his author feed: http://venturebeat.com/author/rockya/ just scroll back a bit.

Rocky Agarwal is far from credible. He made a name for himself by making it his personal goal to bash Groupon as much as possible. Probably because a number of his co-workers at TellMe left to join Groupon and he supposedly wasn't offered a job to join Groupon. His so called reporting wreaks of jealousy as he watched his former co-worker's equity skyrocket with Groupon's growth while he was left out.

ad hominem. http://www.paulgraham.com/disagree.html

Re: Andrew Mason's statement about being fired as Groupon CEO

#174

Post by Jamiecon »

batiudrami wrote: post #107
TallGuyShort wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your hard times are only hard relative to that of others, and even then, only in some aspects.

But we know the human brain doesn't work like that anyway. My life is, in almost all aspects, better than the vast majority of the people in the world, but that doesn't stop my brain from making me feel completely awful when something bad (relatively) happens. Your brain doesn't say 'well, you've been fired from the company you worked for for 5 years, but hey, at least you have fresh drinking water'.

> well, you've been fired from the company you worked for for 5 years, but hey, at least you have fresh drinking water

I'm not sure whether it's my brain, or 'me' that's saying it, but this is pretty much what I tell myself every time something 'bad' happens to me. Works like a charm.

Re: Andrew Mason's statement about being fired as Groupon CEO

#176

Post by tripzilch »

batiudrami wrote: post #107
TallGuyShort wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your hard times are only hard relative to that of others, and even then, only in some aspects.

But we know the human brain doesn't work like that anyway. My life is, in almost all aspects, better than the vast majority of the people in the world, but that doesn't stop my brain from making me feel completely awful when something bad (relatively) happens. Your brain doesn't say 'well, you've been fired from the company you worked for for 5 years, but hey, at least you have fresh drinking water'.

> Your brain doesn't say 'well, you've been fired from the company you worked for for 5 years, but hey, at least you have fresh drinking water'.

You should maybe look into getting a more compassionate brain.

Re: Andrew Mason's statement about being fired as Groupon CEO

#178

Post by flyinRyan »

hyperbovine wrote: post #51
downandout wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very classy. Keep in mind, though, that it makes is somewhat easier to take being fired in stride when you have a $200 million cushion. He doesn't have to deal with many of the challenges that most newly-fired people do - like finding a job in the not-too-distant future, etc. To be sure, getting kicked out of the company you founded is an emotionally challenging experience, but he can lick his wounds on board a priva…

Getting fired from something you poured your heart and soul into for close to five years, sacrificed relationships, health (+40 lbs), etc., must feel awful. I suspect he really does feel love for many of the people who were in the trenches with him during this time, as he avers in the closing line. Staring at your bulging bank account can only do so much to lessen that pain, at least in the short term.

It may feel awful but the previous poster's point was probably that there's no stress to go along with it. For middle class people who get fired they may have all those feelings and effects as well but they also have the stress of needing to get a job within a few weeks.

Re: Andrew Mason's statement about being fired as Groupon CEO

#179

Post by flyinRyan »

pc86 wrote: post #168
hnriot wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I should imagine that staring at $200 does a lot to lessen the pain. Groupon has been a big scam from the start and to come out of that with a huge pile if cash is nothing short of a scandal. In America the banks nearly bring down the whole of the western world's economies and we bail them out so they can give themselves huge bonuses instead if sending them to jail. And this guy gets to spend the rest if his life in…

Yes, how dare people make money. Those bastards!

"Make" fine, but the post you responded to said they were a scam. Surely you don't imagine that any way one can make money is noble? On the off chance that you do, would you mind telling me where I could find you after dark with lots of cash on you and no firearm?

Re: Andrew Mason's statement about being fired as Groupon CEO

#180

Post by codewright »

jacquesc wrote: post #160
codewright wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I don't understand this error Is it typical for front-enders in Rails to not know web security / SSL?

I meant I don't understand why Chrome forces this error with no bypass. Do we really need to be sniping?

Sorry if I offended, I was legitimately curious.
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