Guest Post
Groupon is testing out an offering of its own in the increasingly crowded payments space, according to an email I was forwarded by a business that was solicited for the service. (Disclosure: I have various puts against Groupon.)
The pricing …
Guest Post
In its latest experiment in local commerce, LivingSocial is getting hands on with a new events space in downtown DC. Called 918 F, the space hosts a variety of events including cooking classes, zumba sessions, pop-up restaurants, and painting classes …
Guest Post
It’s incredibly rare that I run across a technology that could improve economic efficiency, better the environment, and improve quality of life for many. Car2Go hits that trifecta.
For urban areas, individual ownership of cars is wasteful. Most cars sit …
Guest Post
With Facebook’s IPO less than 24 hours away, I remain very bullish about the company. (Disclosure: I have entered my indication of interest with my broker for an IPO allocation. I expect that, like most people who ask for shares, …
Guest Post
American Express is releasing a new version of its iPhone app today that lets users find offers at nearby businesses. The new feature, dubbed “My Offers,” represents a threat to Groupon, which has tried to entice merchants to market through …
Guest Post
Have you had the feeling the quality of Groupon deals is going down? If so, you’re right. A report released this morning by Giorgos Zervas, a postdoctoral fellow of computer science at Yale University, shows that the average rating of …
Guest Post
Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson’s latest explanations don’t cut it. He needs to go.
According to Business Insider, he told Yahoo employees that the errors on his bios were not his fault — he didn’t submit a resume to Yahoo, some …
Guest Post
I’ve voiced quite a bit of opposition to the daily deals industry, but that doesn’t mean I’m opposed to discounting in general. Discounting can be an important part of the marketing mix, especially for encouraging trials.
What I’m opposed to …
Guest Post
Recently, people have questioned my motivations around writing about Groupon. They have tried to insinuate that I’m writing about Groupon for personal financial gain.
Anyone who believes that doesn’t know the first thing about how financial markets work. I have …
In Andrew Mason's recent letter to shareholders and in a press release touting 1.5 million Groupon Now deals sold, Groupon has been highlighting the product as an example of innovation and a potential positive for the beleaguered company.
Getting enough data to make local recommendations has proved tough. A restaurant reviewer writing for a local newspaper might write a hundred or so reviews a year. Zagat might cover several thousand in its printed books. Yelp provides near universal …
After an accounting restatement, a shuffling of its board of directors and Groupon's stock falling to below 50 percent of its initial public offering price (and 66 percent off the high it reached on its first day of trading), Groupon CEO Andrew Mason wrote a letter to shareholders yesterday to try to swing the momentum back in the company's favor.
Some people interpreted my piece calling out Silicon Valley’s snobbishness about computer science degrees as a defense of embattled Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson. It’s not.
Thompson’s mistake is a big issue. It reflects his own ethical lapses as well as …
Groupon is changing its payment terms with merchants, according to several sources familiar with Groupon's business and contracts. The company has traditionally used two different payment models. In the United States and Canada, merchants have been paid in three installments.
I don’t have a computer science degree. There, I said it.
At too many companies around Silicon Valley that would make me unemployable.
I’ve been amused by the scandal surrounding Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson’s embellishment of his resume to include …
According to a former salesperson at Groupon, top sales talent is leaving the company as its troubles mount. As of this morning, Groupon reached another all time low, trading on the NASDAQ at $10, half off its $20 IPO price. In just the month of April, the stock lost 42% of its value.
The other day, I tweeted “I should be able to ban anyone who rates Applebee’s 4* from ever influencing a Yelp result for me.” That sentiment touched a nerve among my followers. Shervin Pishevar of Menlo Ventures coined it “ …
Delivery and takeout order service GrubHub is testing its OrderHub service in more than 400 restaurants in Chicago. I’ve complimented GrubHub before for adapting to how restaurants do business — by sending orders to them by fax. Now it’s helping …
In the midst of all the turmoil of Groupon, which is now trading at a market cap below $8 billion and broke below the $12 mark in trading today, the company's hometown newspaper had a sitdown with Groupon chairman Eric Lefkofsky. As a former journalist who once aspired to work at the Tribune, I'm embarrassed for them.
Twitter announced this morning that it will only use its patents for defensive purposes. That’s a brilliant move and it could be an important step to fixing our broken patent system.
I have some personal experience with the patent system. …
