Groupon said no to Google. In late 2010 the search giant offered about $6 billion for a two-year-old Chicago company that emailed one coupon a day. Groupon turned it down and went to Wall Street instead. Its deals were simple: a spa, a pizza place, or a yoga studio at half off, unlocked only when enough buyers signed up. Inboxes filled with copycats, and investors argued over whether the model could last. When Groupon filed in June 2011, it was the hottest name on the internet.

A Petition Site Finds a Coupon

Andrew Mason started a site called The Point in 2007. It let people rally around a cause, and the cause only kicked in once enough people joined. Users kept using it to buy things together. So in November 2008 Mason, with backers Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell, launched Groupon in Chicago. Each day it offered one deal in each city. Merchants gave up their margin for a flood of new customers, and Groupon kept a large cut of every sale.

Twenty-Eight at the Open

Groupon priced its IPO at $20 a share on November 3, 2011, above its range. It raised $700 million, the largest offering by a U.S. internet company since Google in 2004. The stock opened at $28 and closed its first day at $26.11. The glow faded fast as growth slowed and deal fatigue set in. The board fired Mason in 2013. Groupon did a 1-for-20 reverse split in 2020, and Dusan Senkypl became CEO in 2023. It still trades on Nasdaq as GRPN.

Cover: Fishing Boats with Hucksters Bargaining for Fish, Joseph Mallord William Turner. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for hucksters bargaining on a beach (the daily deal).