I think the subtext to a lot of Groupon hate is the suspicion that their success is going to come at the expense of honest but smaller players. It's legitimate

I think the subtext to a lot of Groupon hate is the suspicion that their success is going to come at the expense of honest but smaller players. It's legitimate to be concerned that an insolvent Groupon could leave thousands of small businesses without promised rev share from promotions. It's legitimate to be concerned that an over-zealous sales team will make one-sided deals that favor Groupon and shaft the small business owner. And it's legitimate to be concerned that practices not publicly disclosed, along with obviously goofy accounting, could mean that IPO investors could be buying shares in a shady, radioactive concern. I saw Andrew Mason be asked, point-blank, if his business was sustainable. The brittle, curt, brief response, when compared to his otherwise exuberant, voluminous presence, left me pretty startled – and planted the seeds of my personal skepticism. To me, the many people looking askance at Groupon have no beef with their success. The beef seems largely about the source of that success.