<story><title>Andrew Mason&apos;s statement about being fired as Groupon CEO</title><url>https://www.jottit.com/v5wux/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>sethbannon</author><text>Full text of his statement:&lt;p&gt;(This is for Groupon employees, but I’m posting it publicly since it will leak anyway)&lt;p&gt;People of Groupon,&lt;p&gt;After four and a half intense and wonderful years as CEO of Groupon, I’ve decided that I’d like to spend more time with my family. Just kidding – I was fired today. If you’re wondering why… you haven’t been paying attention. From controversial metrics in our S1 to our material weakness to two quarters of missing our own expectations and a stock price that’s hovering around one quarter of our listing price, the events of the last year and a half speak for themselves. As CEO, I am accountable.&lt;p&gt;You are doing amazing things at Groupon, and you deserve the outside world to give you a second chance. I’m getting in the way of that. A fresh CEO earns you that chance. The board is aligned behind the strategy we’ve shared over the last few months, and I’ve never seen you working together more effectively as a global company – it’s time to give Groupon a relief valve from the public noise.&lt;p&gt;For those who are concerned about me, please don’t be – I love Groupon, and I’m terribly proud of what we’ve created. I’m OK with having failed at this part of the journey. If Groupon was Battletoads, it would be like I made it all the way to the Terra Tubes without dying on my first ever play through. I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to take the company this far with all of you. I’ll now take some time to decompress (FYI I’m looking for a good fat camp to lose my Groupon 40, if anyone has a suggestion), and then maybe I’ll figure out how to channel this experience into something productive.&lt;p&gt;If there’s one piece of wisdom that this simple pilgrim would like to impart upon you: have the courage to start with the customer. My biggest regrets are the moments that I let a lack of data override my intuition on what’s best for our customers. This leadership change gives you some breathing room to break bad habits and deliver sustainable customer happiness – don’t waste the opportunity!&lt;p&gt;I will miss you terribly.&lt;p&gt;Love,&lt;p&gt;Andrew</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>downandout</author><text>Very classy.  Keep in mind, though, that it makes is somewhat easier to take being fired in stride when you have a $200 million cushion.  He doesn&apos;t have to deal with many of the challenges that most newly-fired people do - like finding a job in the not-too-distant future, etc.  To be sure, getting kicked out of the company you founded is an emotionally challenging experience, but he can lick his wounds on board a private jet to a private island.</text></comment>
<story><title>Andrew Mason&apos;s statement about being fired as Groupon CEO</title><url>https://www.jottit.com/v5wux/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>sethbannon</author><text>Full text of his statement:&lt;p&gt;(This is for Groupon employees, but I’m posting it publicly since it will leak anyway)&lt;p&gt;People of Groupon,&lt;p&gt;After four and a half intense and wonderful years as CEO of Groupon, I’ve decided that I’d like to spend more time with my family. Just kidding – I was fired today. If you’re wondering why… you haven’t been paying attention. From controversial metrics in our S1 to our material weakness to two quarters of missing our own expectations and a stock price that’s hovering around one quarter of our listing price, the events of the last year and a half speak for themselves. As CEO, I am accountable.&lt;p&gt;You are doing amazing things at Groupon, and you deserve the outside world to give you a second chance. I’m getting in the way of that. A fresh CEO earns you that chance. The board is aligned behind the strategy we’ve shared over the last few months, and I’ve never seen you working together more effectively as a global company – it’s time to give Groupon a relief valve from the public noise.&lt;p&gt;For those who are concerned about me, please don’t be – I love Groupon, and I’m terribly proud of what we’ve created. I’m OK with having failed at this part of the journey. If Groupon was Battletoads, it would be like I made it all the way to the Terra Tubes without dying on my first ever play through. I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to take the company this far with all of you. I’ll now take some time to decompress (FYI I’m looking for a good fat camp to lose my Groupon 40, if anyone has a suggestion), and then maybe I’ll figure out how to channel this experience into something productive.&lt;p&gt;If there’s one piece of wisdom that this simple pilgrim would like to impart upon you: have the courage to start with the customer. My biggest regrets are the moments that I let a lack of data override my intuition on what’s best for our customers. This leadership change gives you some breathing room to break bad habits and deliver sustainable customer happiness – don’t waste the opportunity!&lt;p&gt;I will miss you terribly.&lt;p&gt;Love,&lt;p&gt;Andrew</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>ChuckMcM</author><text>I too enjoyed the honesty here, but how much of that is Andrew&apos;s personality and how much is facilitated by the fact that by cashing out early [1] on an &apos;inside&apos; round he doesn&apos;t actually have to work if he doesn&apos;t want to?&lt;p&gt;What I&apos;m saying is that I have observed that the honesty someone has about how their last job ended is inversely proportional to their need to get another job. If they really need another job, people position their departure in a way that makes them the victim, if they don&apos;t care if they get another job, they are more forthcoming. It may be built into the psyche for all I know.&lt;p&gt;That said, given that it doesn&apos;t matter at all if he&apos;s seen as being fired or choosing to leave, I think it was great that he was as forthright about his tenure as he chose to be.&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;http://articles.marketwatch.com/2011-11-03/commentary/30698021_1_eric-lefkofsky-groupon-founders&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://articles.marketwatch.com/2011-11-03/commentary/306980...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>