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Groupon stock sinks to new low, investors sue

chicagobusiness.com

11–20 of 137 posts

Re: Groupon stock sinks to new low, investors sue

#12

As a Silicon Valley native currently living in Chicago, I've always found it disappointing that Groupon is the poster child of innovation and entrepreneurship in Chicago. They seem to lack a solid business plan and have a history of deliberately misleading investors and businesses. Far more impressive companies, such as 37signals or GrubHub, are based here that deserve that kind of attention instead. I very much doub…

> I was in a barbershop a few weeks ago, where the owner told me about one of the Groupon executives who was in the shop earlier

Great source!

Re: Groupon stock sinks to new low, investors sue

#13

As a Silicon Valley native currently living in Chicago, I've always found it disappointing that Groupon is the poster child of innovation and entrepreneurship in Chicago. They seem to lack a solid business plan and have a history of deliberately misleading investors and businesses. Far more impressive companies, such as 37signals or GrubHub, are based here that deserve that kind of attention instead. I very much doub…

(Seemingly) explosive growth garners much attention, it's human nature. Tech 'reporters' Techcrunch, VentureBeat, Mashable, etc, like a good story.

Maybe I'm naive, but it seems like there's always been this question mark over their model being non-sustainable, and to those who are aware of 37Signals hold them in much higher esteem.

Re: Groupon stock sinks to new low, investors sue

#15
post #3

Who would have imagined that groupon had a future? It worked on the novelty effect and it was doomed to fail. On the other hand, Chicago business is full of bugs. Ghostery block 13 (!) calls to different websites such as: Quantcast, 24/7 real media, Outbrain etc... I won't visit this website again. I wish I was warned of that before hand not when I go to the website, I value my privacy more than going there.

The writing was also poor. The second paragraph starts saying "The first two lawsuits were filed..." without having given any context either in the headline or the first paragraph. The HN headline was better than the one at the site itself.

Re: Groupon stock sinks to new low, investors sue

#16

They should be going after the SEC for allowing this company to IPO in the first place. Going public used to be a privilege, now it seems too easy.

Since SOX successful tech companies have been avoiding going public for as long as possible (ie Google, Facebook).

I wonder if there was some pressure from investment bankers who want to encourage more IPOs as well as government types who want the law to seen as a success.

Re: Groupon stock sinks to new low, investors sue

#19
post #3

Who would have imagined that groupon had a future? It worked on the novelty effect and it was doomed to fail. On the other hand, Chicago business is full of bugs. Ghostery block 13 (!) calls to different websites such as: Quantcast, 24/7 real media, Outbrain etc... I won't visit this website again. I wish I was warned of that before hand not when I go to the website, I value my privacy more than going there.

In theory, every "bargain" mechanism is doomed to failure as companies learn how to game it, returns diminish, and consumers fall out of favor with it.
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