A faintly warmed-over rehash of arguments we’ve discussed many times on HN, without depth or fresh perspective. Worth reading if you’ve never read anything about their business model before. Otherwise, pass.
What always struck me about Groupon is nothing to do about vendor complaints. If that was going to kill them it would have manifested as failing demand. It's a kind of no one goes there, too crowded argument.<p>The problem was/is almost the opposite, competition. I never saw, understood Groupons sustainable competitive advantage, especially in new markets/cities. They're obviously competent, but they are <i>so</i> easy to copy. $10k site, $100k ad campaign, 3 salespeople and you have a Groupon clone ready to compete in any city. We have a Groupon clone in the building I work in.<p>Anyway (getting to the actual content of this article), GRPN & FB seem to have something in common, at least to the extent that this article is correct. By IPO time all the value was already taken off the table.
With the "Macbook Boondoggle" article and now this I have to wonder what the heck is going on at RWW? Is there any quality control about what articles go up? Any editing process at all?
Wizard... is about to die<p>The interesting point: the couponing market is saturated, so Groupon must grow into new markets or find new products for its existing systems and software.<p>I wouldn't bet on this kind of metamorphosis. A slow death spiral is more likely as Groupon runs out of room to maneuver.