My favorite part was his note to the troops: "By this time next year, we will either be on our way to becoming one of the great technology brands that define our generation, or a cool idea by people who were out executed and out innovated by others that were smarter and harder working."
Does Groupon count the 50% that is owed to the vendors in their revenue? If so, it doesn't feel all that impressive. I'd be more curious to see how much profit was made.
Facebook is probably going to bring in a lot more this year with Facebook Credit and Facebook Place.
Although the revenue is high, the expense for Groupon is probably high as well, after all it's not cheap to launch that many commercials during the Superbowl, and have ads at every other corner on mainstream websites.
A bit off-topic, but I don't really get Groupon. I looked at it for my region about 5 times and in each case the offer seemed to be way overpriced even with the discount and it was something that I wouldn't want even for free, and possibly not even if I got paid some small amount (for the time wasted).
That might be because you don't do those activities and perhaps reticent to try new things. Most people shy away from anything aside from work, TV or Movie watching, going out to a select small group (or all corporate) restaurants, and do activities that, even if they may require an upfront cash outlay (biking, hiking, kayaking), are essentially free to do.
Spa treatments and Tae-Bo classes aren't really marketed towards a majority 20-40 year old men in the fuddy-duddy computer and technology field.
Sounds like you live in an area where Groupon hasn't been widely accepted.
In Dallas the most common deal (that interests me) is $10 for $20 food at restaurant X. It is quite obvious how this is a good deal for me.
I also once used it to purchase 2 opera tickets for $25. After I went to the opera I found out these ticket would have normaly been $115 a piece. Although I did research a bit and call the opera before purchasing try to make sure I was getting a good deal.
Then perhaps you lack the fundamentals of business altogether. If there is one rule I have had to repeat to so many (and only god knows why this even needs to be said) is that YOU do not represent everyone. Everyone is DIFFERENT and because people are different, everyone will have different wants and needs.
Just because YOU don't want what Groupon or a similar service offer in your area for the particular deals you've come across does not mean this applies to everyone else around you. If you approach every business like that, 99% of the business in the world will probably be non-existant, after all, I'm sure there are a lot of things YOU don't use or want.
I wonder if it is sustainable. Are the merchants actually making good profits from using Groupon? Will consumers keep visiting Groupon if merchant only post deals they will actually make money on?
~4000 employees generating revenue of 760m, which vendors get a big chunk of, doesn't seem super impressive. I mean it's a nice amount of income, but it doesn't seem very 'whoa..'.
I would of take the 6 billion from google and went to dubai to join the prince and built an island in the shape of a giant coupon. With such a huge work force they need to just about monopolize the coupon game before they start committing suicide for not selling.
[+] [-] chaz|15 years ago|reply
The original WSJ article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870340860457616...
[+] [-] olivercameron|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] alanfalcon|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] apinstein|15 years ago|reply
$760M Gross Revenue
-$360M COGS (cost of goods sold)
-----
$400M Gross Profit
-300M (Itemized expenses)
-----
$100M Operating Income
-$10M Tax/Depreciation/etc
-----
$90M Net Income
Figures besides revenue are just guesses of course, but this is how it's done in accounting terms.
For a real example see something like Amazon: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=AMZN+Income+Statement&an...
[+] [-] jc123|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] juiceandjuice|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] imkevingao|15 years ago|reply
Although the revenue is high, the expense for Groupon is probably high as well, after all it's not cheap to launch that many commercials during the Superbowl, and have ads at every other corner on mainstream websites.
At least they have income.
[+] [-] piguy314|15 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] Tyrant505|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lkozma|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] muhfuhkuh|15 years ago|reply
Spa treatments and Tae-Bo classes aren't really marketed towards a majority 20-40 year old men in the fuddy-duddy computer and technology field.
[+] [-] sammcd|15 years ago|reply
In Dallas the most common deal (that interests me) is $10 for $20 food at restaurant X. It is quite obvious how this is a good deal for me.
I also once used it to purchase 2 opera tickets for $25. After I went to the opera I found out these ticket would have normaly been $115 a piece. Although I did research a bit and call the opera before purchasing try to make sure I was getting a good deal.
[+] [-] us|15 years ago|reply
Just because YOU don't want what Groupon or a similar service offer in your area for the particular deals you've come across does not mean this applies to everyone else around you. If you approach every business like that, 99% of the business in the world will probably be non-existant, after all, I'm sure there are a lot of things YOU don't use or want.
[+] [-] TorKlingberg|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ajg1977|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] chaz|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] DevX101|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] vaksel|15 years ago|reply
50% goes to vendors, so that's down to 380mm
4,000 employees at average of $50K, comes out to 200mm
180mm remaining...they advertise pretty aggressively, so let's say they spend 100mm on ads(probably less).
Which still leaves them with 80mm in profit
[+] [-] worldtize|15 years ago|reply