Groupon’s Andrew Mason – aka Wolverine – Defends His Company and Demeanor on 60 Minutes

Emerging markets add to growth

Sunday, on CBS’s 60 Minutes Lesley Stahl had a nice one on one chat with Andrew Mason “the quirky” CEO of Groupon. The segment poses the 3 year old question “Will Groupon revolutionize the way we shop, or end up a passing fad?” It seems that Lesley cross examines Andrew about Groupons being based on what consumers want verses their needs. Then she applauds the company’s launch “at the height of the recession when everyone was looking for a bargain.”

According to Andrew, “the success was intoxicating. A rocket ship ride you couldn’t let go of but didn’t want to let go either.” The global Groupon rocket hires up to 150 employees per week, currently employing over 10,000 people in 46 countries.

Lesley seems surprised that this dot-com uses real live people verses algorithms to function properly. Andrew makes no bones about the company’s platform constantly evolving. An example of this entailed separating the deals according to consumers’ gender and or age.

An emphasis was placed on the fact that merchants may not make money. Like the baker that had to crank out over 100,000 cupcakes and ended up loosing more than $20,000. Lesley goes on the record as believing that it’s the more than 400 clever writers that draw attention to and help make the sale. I disagree. I believe it’s the item or experience first that entices the viewer to further read the deal. If I am not in the mood for a 50% discount on Chinese food, no matter how witty the ad is, not only will I not read it; I’ll fast forward past it.

Andrew Mason as a CEO

Andrew smiled during much of the interview. Including the times when he was questioned about being ready to be a CEO. Andrew admitted to the fact that he may not be as mature or as smart as other CEO’s. I for one think this music major is brilliant. In three years he’s helped tens of thousands of families by not only providing an income for them via jobs (something our government has certainly dropped the ball on) but he almost single-handedly created an entire multi-billion dollar industry.

A portion of the interview was spent on the usual topic of cloning the platform, going up against Google, and spending more money than taking in. Why didn’t Andrew take the $6 billion offer and run? The way Groupon’s accounting was handled was called a “bush-league” mistake. I say cut the guy and the company some slack. Not only did he kick-start a new industry, he also had accountants that went along with the accounting methods. Perhaps they are working for the firm of Bush League CPA and Accounting.

Wolverine be free

Andrew addresses Lesley’s questions on ‘the memo’. You could tell that it was difficult for Andrew to not be adamant in his explanation. He felt “the culture was made stronger”, similar to Wolverine, who’s skin was melted off then finding out that underneath is adamantine, a fictional metal stronger than any known metallic substance on earth.

When all was said and done, Andrew gave little up on the direction of the company. He wore no tie (although he stated he owns 4) but he may be growing up, because at least this time he asked if he should wear one.

For those wanting to listen to and view the “60 Minutes” segment here you go. As for the baker and Lesley Stahl, had they have kept up with the daily dealing industry through our posts, both would better understand price break points, limiting deal quantities and the daily dealing industry as a whole.

Source: The Chicago Tribune