The second part is (I think) relatively easy: Some startups fail regardless of the basic idea. Start 100 Amazons in 1995 and at least a certain number will fail

The second part is (I think) relatively easy: Some startups fail regardless of the basic idea. Start 100 Amazons in 1995 and at least a certain number will fail. The first part (why are some succeeding?) is an interesting one. I'll venture a couple: (a) This business not a natural monopoly to the same extent as many online businesses. Groupon have (I think) one offer at a time. If you're in the mood for groupon, why not check in on five, see what they have today? They could of course have lots of deals but that'd be doing things differently. (b) Groupon is about localization at the city level. Their are still more cities than Groupon can take. Being the best dealoftheday site for Newcastle is an achievable goal. Maybe this is a subset of the former.