Great, lets hope the CEO of VEVO reads this.
Andrew Mason's statement about being fired as Groupon CEO
191–200 of 201 posts
Re: Andrew Mason's statement about being fired as Groupon CEO
#192Earlier 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. == Wait what? If you have to say it, it probably aint.
Gracious would have been a better word, but I was in a hurry when I typed that (there is also a typo in there that I didn't notice until hours later after I couldn't edit it).
Its not a wordsmithing issue. Its PR. It is not "class" or "grace". If you study the Co's history, this would become clear. The withdrawls of cash from the company by its senior management, for example, are "classic" but not "classy".
Re: Andrew Mason's statement about being fired as Groupon CEO
#193Earlier quoted context omitted.
With Mason, I'm assuming phoniness at every turn: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5301302
I assume Mason answered that question about ten thousand times before at that point. If the person that asked that really asked it like that, then I have to say it was a poorly phrased, thoughtless question that no CEO would answer. He's hardly a phony for having answered it with a simple, "Yes." How would you actually expect him to have answered that? What's your ideal scenario there? "Nope. We're hosed. Everyone ge…
Re: Andrew Mason's statement about being fired as Groupon CEO
#194Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thanks I was wondering about that.
Yeah, he was once meant to be on TV news talking about Groupon and because they asked a question he didn't want to answer, he told a funny irrelevant story about his life just to play out the clock. A real square peg in a round hole but in the best possible way (though not necessarily from investors' POV).
Same as politicians do. It takes some practice to learn to do that. I would suspect he was prepped in evasion techniques prior to the TV appearance. Actually hard to believe he wasn't schooled in some of this actually.
Re: Andrew Mason's statement about being fired as Groupon CEO
#195Earlier 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.
I'm fascinated by the theory that somebody's reporting on a topic is automatically suspect because they have developed a strong opinion on the topic.
If you've got issues with what he wrote, I'd be interested to see what specifically you feel he got wrong. But regardless, I think he deserves credit for digging into Groupon financials, and for calling out the lack of substance well before most people did. Jealous or not, the collapse of the daily deals space and Groupon's sickly stock price suggest that he was broadly correct at a time when most financial journalists were hyping Groupon and its stock.
Re: Andrew Mason's statement about being fired as Groupon CEO
#196Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Staring at an empty bank account, a pile of bills & wondering how you're paying rent next month does a remarkable job at distracting you from the emotional aspect of getting fired as well.
I really hope this is sarcasm.
Re: Andrew Mason's statement about being fired as Groupon CEO
#197Earlier quoted context omitted.
Same. Wow. That guy sounds like someone I'd want to work with in the future.
Agree that the letter is good. But I'm puzzled by your reaction to it. Seems more of a populist "touchy feely aw shucks nice guy". How does that make you want to work for him? He wrote a good letter. What about the things he sucked at? What about the immaturity? The bad business decision. So what he is humble. Some of the business people who are viewed as the most heartless and absolute assholes (by outsiders) can be…
>Business is business. Being a nice guy doesn't equate to winning in many cases.
Regardless of how relevant it is to Andrew Mason's case this is a very important point to realize. It certainly was one for me and many others I know of. Mind you, "winning" in this case doesn't only pertain to selfish, zero-sum victories; it's relevant in the boarder sense of "winning": "the art of choosing actions that steer the future toward outcomes ranked higher in your preferences" [1]. Recently I was linked to a Cracked.com article [2] that I think summarizes the difference between "being a nice person" and "winning" in the boarder sense with great, harsh lucidity. Please don't let the tone dissuade you from read the following quote in full.
>Let's say that the person you love the most has just been shot. He or she is lying in the street, bleeding and screaming. A guy rushes up and says, "Step aside." He looks over your loved one's bullet wound and pulls out a pocket knife -- he's going to operate right there in the street.
>You ask, "Are you a doctor?"
>The guy says, "No."
>You say, "But you know what you're doing, right? You're an old Army medic, or ..."
>At this point the guy becomes annoyed. He tells you that he is a nice guy, he is honest, he is always on time. He tells you that he is a great son to his mother and has a rich life full of fulfilling hobbies, and he boasts that he never uses foul language.
>Confused, you say, "How does any of that fucking matter when my (wife/husband/best friend/parent) is lying here bleeding! I need somebody who knows how to operate on bullet wounds! Can you do that or not?!?"
>Now the man becomes agitated -- why are you being shallow and selfish? Do you not care about any of his other good qualities? Didn't you just hear him say that he always remembers his girlfriend's birthday? In light of all of the good things he does, does it really matter if he knows how to perform surgery?
>In that panicked moment, you will take your bloody hands and shake him by the shoulders, screaming, "Yes, I'm saying that none of that other shit matters, because in this specific situation, I just need somebody who can stop the bleeding, you crazy fucking asshole."
>So here is my terrible truth about the adult world: You are in that very situation every single day. Only you are the confused guy with the pocket knife. All of society is the bleeding gunshot victim.
[1] As defined by Eliezer Yudkowsky in http://lesswrong.com/lw/31/what_do_we_mean_by_rationality/.
[2] See http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-harsh-truths-that-will-make-yo.... This may or may not be the first time this website is cited on HN.
Re: Andrew Mason's statement about being fired as Groupon CEO
#198Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Staring at an empty bank account, a pile of bills & wondering how you're paying rent next month does a remarkable job at distracting you from the emotional aspect of getting fired as well.
hammering a nail through your foot supposedly cures your headache too. At least in the short term.
Re: Andrew Mason's statement about being fired as Groupon CEO
#199Earlier 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.
He is still serving as a director on the board, so it's not as if he's being booted out of the company. He (or the shareholders) may choose to change that, but for the time being he is still involved directly in the well-being of the company. This would be a great opportunity to learn how to manage the company the way it should be (Groupon Hate aside) and perhaps return as CEO in the future or be better prepared for whatever is next.
Re: Andrew Mason's statement about being fired as Groupon CEO
#200Earlier quoted context omitted.
I felt it was dishonest when I got to "good fat camp to lose my Groupon 40." It seems he tried really hard to inject humor and trivialities into the letter.
More than once at company meetings, when he turned around and looked at the video projection, he'd mention being startled at how fat he looked from behind. This is what Andrew Mason was like. He was one of the high points of working at Groupon.
hi peter! :P Also, 100% agreed — he was the heart and soul of the culture there.