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Did you ever feel compelled to voice your opinion after you saw the data that indicated Groupon was spending more than they earned? Why did they ask you to leav

by jbenz 15y ago

Did you ever feel compelled to voice your opinion after you saw the data that indicated Groupon was spending more than they earned? Why did they ask you to leave the board? Thanks for sharing what you have. It's been said before, but I'll say it again: HN is a remarkable place when intelligent people are having open conversations about the news that directly involves their own business.

jasonfried 15y ago
I was never shy about my opinion. A good board is made up of people with differing opinions. The worst boards are made up of rubber stamps. And of course a board is made up of people with different strengths and experiences. My experience is not in massive growth, rapid growth, acquisitions, companies with thousands of people, etc. There were and are people on the board that are very experienced in those matters. My experience is in product design and development. My advice on those matters was my main contribution to the board and the company. I continue to advise, when asked, on product design.
- stevenj 15y ago
  >I continue to advise, when asked, on product design. How often is that?
- eurohacker 15y ago
  Jason, since you are here - may be its a good idea to tell the crowd why you decided to sell some of your shares of Groupon, as some papers seem to indicate
  - catch23 15y ago
    Why would that matter? He was asked, and he said yes. These were options paid to him for his involvement on the board, not money invested by him. If you did some work for someone, and they paid you with stock instead of cash, wouldn't you feel like converting that to cash the first chance you get?
    - eurohacker 15y ago
      NO. if i would have a successful company like 37signals and enough money - i would keep the additional startups as long as possible, since there is not much to loose especially would keep the shares of the "hottest" and "fastest growing" startup groupon
      - rayiner 15y ago
        What if he needed the liquidity? There are all sorts of reasons to sell stock at a particular time that have nothing to do with cashing out on a company one believes will flame out.
        eurohacker 15y ago
        he could have other startups to cash out on then , instead of groupon,
        daniel1980fl 15y ago
        exactly. other than your mother in hospital needing new liver tonight the latest, I dont see a reason of dumping options of facebook, twitter, groupon zynga or other white-hot startup. thats something you just dont do!
        catch23 15y ago
        sounds like you're just a hater.
  - timsally 15y ago
    That's Jason's business and not yours. I can't even believe such a thing needs to be verbalized. You're coming across like a tabloid journalist. Essentially you're trying to manufacture a controversy here out of an OpEd that: (1) Jason's business partner wrote on his own private time and (2) hasn't been endorsed by Jason's company. As if business partners can't have differing opinions about the business practices of other companies. If Jason's and DHH's opinions are indeed different, which I'm not convinced they are. Sheesh.

by jbenz 15y ago

jasonfried 15y ago

I was never shy about my opinion. A good board is made up of people with differing opinions. The worst boards are made up of rubber stamps. And of course a board is made up of people with different strengths and experiences. My experience is not in massive growth, rapid growth, acquisitions, companies with thousands of people, etc. There were and are people on the board that are very experienced in those matters. My experience is in product design and development. My advice on those matters was my main contribution to the board and the company. I continue to advise, when asked, on product design.

stevenj 15y ago
>I continue to advise, when asked, on product design. How often is that?
eurohacker 15y ago
Jason, since you are here - may be its a good idea to tell the crowd why you decided to sell some of your shares of Groupon, as some papers seem to indicate
- catch23 15y ago
  Why would that matter? He was asked, and he said yes. These were options paid to him for his involvement on the board, not money invested by him. If you did some work for someone, and they paid you with stock instead of cash, wouldn't you feel like converting that to cash the first chance you get?
  - eurohacker 15y ago
    NO. if i would have a successful company like 37signals and enough money - i would keep the additional startups as long as possible, since there is not much to loose especially would keep the shares of the "hottest" and "fastest growing" startup groupon
    - rayiner 15y ago
      What if he needed the liquidity? There are all sorts of reasons to sell stock at a particular time that have nothing to do with cashing out on a company one believes will flame out.
      - eurohacker 15y ago
        he could have other startups to cash out on then , instead of groupon,
        daniel1980fl 15y ago
        exactly. other than your mother in hospital needing new liver tonight the latest, I dont see a reason of dumping options of facebook, twitter, groupon zynga or other white-hot startup. thats something you just dont do!
        catch23 15y ago
        sounds like you're just a hater.
- timsally 15y ago
  That's Jason's business and not yours. I can't even believe such a thing needs to be verbalized. You're coming across like a tabloid journalist. Essentially you're trying to manufacture a controversy here out of an OpEd that: (1) Jason's business partner wrote on his own private time and (2) hasn't been endorsed by Jason's company. As if business partners can't have differing opinions about the business practices of other companies. If Jason's and DHH's opinions are indeed different, which I'm not convinced they are. Sheesh.