You're missing the part where it's become obvious that Groupon is spending more on provider aquisition than their lifetime value and they are spending a lot on

You're missing the part where it's become obvious that Groupon is spending more on provider aquisition than their lifetime value and they are spending a lot on consumer aquisition, more than what most analysts would put as a high end of consumer lifetime value. Sure, it's a new market and there are some unknowns, but the only route to success with their current strategy is fanaticaly loyal consumers (who are very disloyal to providers but will be loyal to groupon over it's competitors?) and an ever expanding number of businesses that are willing to try groupon but have so far been unlikely to return. Sure, it might be an Amazon but it seems arbitrary to pick that comparison considering how many other businesses arounds Amazons time turned out to be exactly what everyone said they were: unsustainable.