
Andrew Mason’s "I'm not answering that" technique - DanielRibeiro
http://allthingsd.com/20110601/see-andrew-masons-amazing-death-stare/
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ghshephard
Presuming that the video is recent, and as Groupon enters it's silent period,
it's a good technique for a relatively newly minted CEO who doesn't have 20-30
years of experience dealing with public markets, taking companies public, and
all of the legal guidance that they've received in that time.

If Andrew takes three or four companies public, he'll learn how to answer
those questions without stepping over the line, but, for right now, with a
multi-billion dollar IPO on the line - silence is golden.

Besides - he managed to get an applause out of the audience, so he had good
timing as well.

[Edit: Agreed that a "no comment" would have been as effective, but nowhere
near as entertaining. I also suspect that the interviewer knew they were not
supposed to be asking these questions, so there was another bit of interplay
taking place as well.]

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TheAmazingIdiot
You gave more info than I gleaned off the site. All I saw were a few banners
and a tagline.

Admittedly, I'm using a blackberry, so if it's video content like that, I'm
not seeing it. The least the operators of that could have done was offer a
transcript, or detect crappy browsers. Oh well.

*edit: I thought about, but failed to mention that a <video> tag would have been most helpful. And, why the downvotes?

~~~
nostromo
Here you go (not word for word):

Interviewer: "When are you going public?"

Groupon CEO: [Silence. Look of death. Nervous shaking. Looks like head might
explode.]

"Why didn't you sell to Google?"

[Same as above + flaring nostrils.]

"Why didn't you sell to Yahoo?"

[Laughter.]

~~~
nimblegorilla
The shaking seemed more like he was trying to keep from smiling than he was
nervous.

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staunch
Anyone who isn't familiar with his style should know that when he raised $1
billion recently he titled the press release:

"Groupon raises, like, a billion dollars."

He has a great sense of humor and doesn't give a shit what people think. My
kind of guy.

~~~
gaius
Considering that $900m of that went into his personal account, I can well
believe it!

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imjoel
Personally, it's refreshing to see someone bring some levity to all the
seriousness. Especially considering he was obviously countering the
penetrating questions the interviewer was asking.

You people need to relax.

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daimyoyo
I understand why he did it(sec regulations and all) but what was the reason he
thought it was cool to look like he was having an aneurism every time Kara
asked him these questions? Comedy relief?

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nhangen
I know it sounds cynical, but it's just another reason I don't like Groupon.
The dude is creepy, and looks like something straight out of a Dianetics book.

~~~
netcan
I like it.

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amirmc
I found it odd that the audience was applauding but I guess we're missing some
context in this short clip.

Jeremy Paxman probably wouldn't have let him get away with silence.

~~~
JackWebbHeller
Jeremy Paxman. YES. I would love to see how he would respond to that!

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mmaunder
That's hilarious! For a moment I thought he was having a seizure. I was quite
relieved when he finally smiled at the end.

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tobtoh
I got the feeling that there was probably some pre-arranged agreement that the
IPO question was off limits, but that the interviewer went ahead and asked the
question anyway. Hence his non-plussed look and the slight shake of his head
as if indicating 'you're not supposed to be asking that question'.

~~~
rudiger
Or, it was a joke and an interesting take on the inevitable question.

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yoyar
I think some people can't understand a CEO who doesn't act like the typical
corporate robot clone, and others can.

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ballard
"Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more
difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment." -
Franklin.

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TamDenholm
Reminds me of the David Blane interview on GMTV. Maybe thats where he got the
technique?

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anigbrowl
He looks pretty high.

EDIT: that's not meant to be funny; it's my honest impression of his demeanor.

