Never mind that Groupon was a stupid idea with an impossible business model that only exists in any form today because of a ridiculous amount of hype. He doesn't get that, but it is still refreshing to see somebody speak honestly as they walk out the door.

It is amazing to me that they have been able to sustain this hype machine for this long -- actually getting more than $2B in revenues last year. But it is a sucker machine. The loyalty of merchants is extremely low because Groupon campaigns usually fail to deliver any long-term increase in sales. They can generate a big flurry of initial activity, but that is only because the merchant is selling their product at what amounts to a 75% discount. So Groupon has to keep finding more and more suckers. I bet their revenue has peaked. I have not seen a merchant in my area with a Groupon offer for about 18 months now. I'm sure there are some out there, but not like a couple of years ago.

This is what it is all about. Honesty. Honor. Decency. Integrity. Humility. Concern for others. Dignity.

Free Clue for Republicans: That's the exact same stuff Jesus was always talking about way back when...

It just makes them defensive...

blame the inevitable collapse of this ridiculous enterprise on the next guy.

If you look only at the income statement, he looks like a hero. In 2012, they brought in over $2B of revenue and were very close to breakeven performance. That's a lot better than Amazon did in their early years. So why is he leaving?

Because it is ridiculous business model that only works as long as you are able to convince retailer to sell their product at what amounts to a 75% discount.

The sucker pool is drying up. Groupon has run its course, just like fourqueare. These things are so May, 2011.

The guy is clever. He made his money and now he's getting out before the collapse. Just like they teach it in MBA school.

Apparently Groupin cost them more than they could make.

businesses the idea that people coming to them through Groupon will become customers who return again and again. It's the same principle sold by those coupon books we never really use much of.

It doesn't work. Groupons are purchased by one-time customers looking for a bargain. They didn't patronize the business because they can't afford to. Offer them something at half-price, and they'll come, but once that's not available any longer, they'll go elsewhere, perhaps to your competitor, who also is offering a Groupon.

It worked for a while, until businesses discovered that the number of Groupon customers who returned to the business at other times approached zero.

It is a business model that is doomed to fail. It's not sustainable.

She had bought several thing that required booking in advance. One was a fishing trip, and another was a play. We never made it to any of those things, due to issues that came up between the time of booking and the time of the package. We tried to rebook, but most of the things were fully booked at the times we could go. Great prices, but we never ended up using what we had paid for. No more Groupons for that sort of thing for us.