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(The New York Times) Obvious Groupon CEO hopes to pocket a few hundred million more dollars before the company goes under   (dealbook.nytimes.com) divider line 21
More: Obvious, Groupon, red flags, Lloyd Blankfein, Ernst & Young, prospectus, Credit Suisse, Eric Lefkofsky, operating income  
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8895 clicks; posted to Business » on 18 Oct 2011 at 1:09 PM   |  Favorite    |   share:  Share on Twitter share via Email Share on Facebook   more»   |    Get this fabulous T-Shirt and impress the methane out of your friends! shirt it!



21 Comments   (+0 »)
   
 
Cubansaltyballs [TotalFark]
2011-10-18 12:16:50 PM
I have a feeling this guy will end up in prison.
 
thomps [TotalFark]
2011-10-18 12:51:57 PM
"Underwriters are supposed to be gatekeepers, not just a sales and marketing agent," said Lynn E. Turner, a former chief accountant for the S.E.C. "Underwriters have gotten to the point of being cheerleaders. I question whether they are really fulfilling their obligation to investors."


what question could you possibly have? for the last 15 or so years, underwriters have been nothing but pitchmen taking a commission for unloading initial offerings. banks haven't even attempted to claim otherwise in years.
 
Rapmaster2000
2011-10-18 01:16:18 PM
The Missed Red Flags on Groupon

How about the one where it's a business model that anyone can (and does) copy. Groupon has no competitive advantage besides first mover advantage and that is often not worth much.

That's not even getting into the retention rate on business. I never really cared about their money. I cared about their model.
 
Wellon Dowd
2011-10-18 01:22:28 PM
Another example of the One Percent breaking their back to earn each and every penny.
 
WhoIsNotInMyKitchen
2011-10-18 01:38:19 PM
thomps: "Underwriters are supposed to be gatekeepers, not just a sales and marketing agent," said Lynn E. Turner, a former chief accountant for the S.E.C. "Underwriters have gotten to the point of being cheerleaders. I question whether they are really fulfilling their obligation to investors."


what question could you possibly have? for the last 15 or so years, underwriters have been nothing but pitchmen taking a commission for unloading initial offerings. banks haven't even attempted to claim otherwise in years.

Came here to repost that quote as well. I for one am glad that Lynn E. Turner can see that the sky is blue and water is wet.

Too bad the SEC doesn't appear to have any mandate or teeth anymore. Today's wall street is one hell of a target rich environment.
 
BalugaJoe
2011-10-18 01:53:51 PM
I got a month of Fark for $2.50
 
jvl
2011-10-18 01:56:05 PM
thomps: what question could you possibly have? for the last 15 or so years, underwriters have been nothing but pitchmen taking a commission for unloading initial offerings. banks haven't even attempted to claim otherwise in years.

As the IPO filings are pretty clear about how big a piece of crap Groupon is, I don't really see a problem with the underwriters and auditors. They're helping to sell a piece of crap which is clearly labelled "piece of crap."
 
D135
2011-10-18 01:57:14 PM
"I question whether they are really fulfilling their obligation to investors."

- almost died laughing
 
KierzanDax
2011-10-18 02:07:40 PM
"And Groupon's filing shows that when the company privately raised $950 million in a pre-I.P.O. round in January, it paid out $810 million of that to its investors and employees, a red flag for any investor. (Mr. Lefkofsky and his wife took home about $319 million of the total.)"

I'd be pretty pissed if a major portion of my investment went to the chairman and his semen-catcher.
 
realmolo
2011-10-18 02:38:07 PM
Andrew Mason is a simpering little biatch, and is *exactly* the kind of guy who will end up shooting himself when the Feds convict him of fraud.
 
chechcal
2011-10-18 02:47:05 PM
That might explain why they turned down the Google offer last year, competent due diligence would have torpedoed Groupon permanently.
 
Masso
2011-10-18 02:48:57 PM
Groupon has $225 million in the bank. The company lost $102.7 million in the last quarter on revenue of $878 million.

Ok... seriously. How do they manage to accomplish this? It's just linking promotional deal and straight up pocketing money from retailer and acting like a loan shark, how do you manage to spend almost a billion running this business.
 
thomps [TotalFark]
2011-10-18 02:51:21 PM
Masso: Groupon has $225 million in the bank. The company lost $102.7 million in the last quarter on revenue of $878 million.

Ok... seriously. How do they manage to accomplish this? It's just linking promotional deal and straight up pocketing money from retailer and acting like a loan shark, how do you manage to spend almost a billion running this business.

aren't they hiring like 1000 people per month and expanding aggressively geographically? the onboarding and ramp-up costs have to be insane.
 
farkeruk
2011-10-18 03:10:26 PM
Masso: Ok... seriously. How do they manage to accomplish this? It's just linking promotional deal and straight up pocketing money from retailer and acting like a loan shark, how do you manage to spend almost a billion running this business.

It's basically a "manual" company. They have lots of staff doing sales.

The whole thing looks like a Ponzi scheme. Keep expanding, pay the last load of investors with money from the new ones. It's not going to end well.
 
bigmattress
2011-10-18 04:10:57 PM
thomps: Masso: Groupon has $225 million in the bank. The company lost $102.7 million in the last quarter on revenue of $878 million.

Ok... seriously. How do they manage to accomplish this? It's just linking promotional deal and straight up pocketing money from retailer and acting like a loan shark, how do you manage to spend almost a billion running this business.

aren't they hiring like 1000 people per month and expanding aggressively geographically? the onboarding and ramp-up costs have to be insane.

Yes, I believe they were purchasing real estate in Chicago at a rapid rate.
 
haywatchthis
2011-10-18 04:27:10 PM
farkeruk: Masso: Ok... seriously. How do they manage to accomplish this? It's just linking promotional deal and straight up pocketing money from retailer and acting like a loan shark, how do you manage to spend almost a billion running this business.

It's basically a "manual" company. They have lots of staff doing sales.

The whole thing looks like a Ponzi scheme. Keep expanding, pay the last load of investors with money from the new ones. It's not going to end well.

this is what i thought too , their business model is a scam
 
I Am The Egg Matt Drudge Smears Upon His Body
2011-10-18 05:22:31 PM
Rapmaster2000: The Missed Red Flags on Groupon

How about the one where it's a business model that anyone can (and does) copy. Groupon has no competitive advantage besides first mover advantage and that is often not worth much.


images1.wikia.nocookie.net

t3.gstatic.com
 
Tax Boy
2011-10-18 05:38:21 PM
Masso: Groupon has $225 million in the bank. The company lost $102.7 million in the last quarter on revenue of $878 million.

Ok... seriously. How do they manage to accomplish this? It's just linking promotional deal and straight up pocketing money from retailer and acting like a loan shark, how do you manage to spend almost a billion running this business.

Aeron chairs. Lots and lots of Aeron chairs.
 
gameshowhost [TotalFark]
2011-10-18 05:59:17 PM
BUT BUT BUT THEY TAKE THAT MONEY AND USE IT TO CREATE JOBS
 
Goodfella
2011-10-18 06:35:37 PM
jvl: thomps: what question could you possibly have? for the last 15 or so years, underwriters have been nothing but pitchmen taking a commission for unloading initial offerings. banks haven't even attempted to claim otherwise in years.

As the IPO filings are pretty clear about how big a piece of crap Groupon is, I don't really see a problem with the underwriters and auditors. They're helping to sell a piece of crap which is clearly labelled "piece of crap."


And there is no better salesman of piece of crap financial products than Goldman Sachs. Especially when Goldman are the ones calling them pieces of crap.
 
Goodfella
2011-10-18 06:37:40 PM
gameshowhost: BUT BUT BUT THEY TAKE THAT MONEY AND USE IT TO CREATE JOBS


The US taxpayers are the real job creators. Without our bailout dollars most of these bankers would be unemployed right now.
 
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