

Andrew Mason's statement, Groupon CEO fired(Jottit's broken) - gamechangr
http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/28/ceo-andrew-mason-replaced-by-eric-lefkofsky-and-vice-chairman-ted-leonsis-at-groupon/

======
gamechangr
Statement:

People of Groupon,

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.

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.

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.

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! I will miss you terribly.

Love,

Andrew

