IPO Archive

It sure has been interesting watching Groupon explode over the past two years – they have used their nearly $1 billion in VC funding to help grow amazingly fast. I still remember sitting with Groupon CEO Andrew Mason at the Cosmic Diner in Manhattan three years ago as he explained the concept of The Point to me. I left thinking that The Point was an interesting idea but wondered if it had real potential because of the hoops involved in getting a program to be funded. Obviously the concept of daily deals/group buying is a much easier sell to merchants and retailers than social causes were to individuals. It’s also been great to watch Groupon grow from a headquarters location outside the valley.

Today the company filed a S-1 form with the SEC to move the company public under the symbol GRPN. You can read Mason’s press release on nearly every tech blog so I won’t repeat it here.

I only have one question for the Groupon team — how do you define a “subscriber”? The announcement notes that the company has 83 million subscribers as of today. But what exactly defines a subscriber?

And this definition of subscriber is critical not just for Groupon but for the industry as a whole so that merchants can create valid comparisons.

Continue reading “How Does Groupon Define “Subscriber”? And Why It’s Important for the Industry” »