8 ms·

Groupon manager attacks “slavedriver” CEO Daniel Glasner with two leaked emails

52 points by mdariani 15y ago

brown9-2 15y ago
If Groupon is breeching contractually agreed bonuses with it's employees, why wouldn't they challenge that in the legal system? On the other hand, "Director of Sales" is already one of the most meaningless job titles that exist.
- its_so_on 15y ago
  you're forgeting something. We're not talking about a Director of sales here. We're talking about a Herr Direktor of sales
  - its_so_on 15y ago
    sorry i wasn't clear: titles like this mean a lot more in germany, where it's much harder to find or lose a job; they also have a record that follows them around, much like your college transcript. being a director isn't like being one in america.
dia80 15y ago
I'm not sure how this article made the front page. The swathes of awkwardly (machine?) translated German and the fact there appears to be several "CEO"s mentioned makes it very difficult to understand.
- OSButler 15y ago
  Plus the spoon-fed excerpts of the emails makes it look like a tabloid article. Show the full content of the emails, so the reader can make up her/his own opinion.
  - mdariani 15y ago
    maybe it's better to comment below the article that they should show the whole email and not just excerpts. don't think the author of the article will read the comments here ;)
joedev 15y ago
I've always imagined a sweatshop, boiler-room operation when I think of a Groupon office.
- mdda 15y ago
  I'm pretty sure that's an accurate picture of the kind of sales operation that's required to make the magic work... The key difference, though, is that a stockbroker Boiler-Room is usually operating at (or around) a threshold of legality since making markets in stocks is a highly regulated industry (at the very least there's the threat of sanctions if a salesperson goes too far). OTOH, the Groupon sales team will have no such restrictions on how they sell the dream of increased customer awareness through the magic of the internet, and their vast mailing list.
tsunamifury 15y ago
Third place is "you're fired". At least Alec Baldwin offered a reward of a car and a set of steak knives for first and second place. Using only threats to motivate and not offering anything for success is usually the sign of an organization circling the drain in my experience. Granted I do have some reservations about the source here.
- microtherion 15y ago
  Yes, the visual I imagined went along with that article was something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-AXTx4PcKI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-AXTx4PcKI
netmau5 15y ago
Don't work at Groupon.
PhrosTT 15y ago
Any company that allows this: http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-08-31/entertainment/30000786_1_groupon-fuchsia-humor http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-08-31/entertainment... ...But getting humor writer/editor Daniel Kibblesmith onto the fifth season of The Millionaire Matchmaker demonstrates the group-buying site is as unceasingly resilient in using its savvy to generate interest in its company. "It came from a really honest place," said Groupon's PR guru Julie Mossler who suggested Kibblesmith for the show. "We knew it would come with some free publicity, but this was about getting him on the show and getting him a girlfriend." ... "I assumed I was [picked] because I was the strongest person at Groupon, but we haven't actually confirmed that yet." he joked. "They didn't want anyone too intimidating, but I know they were looking at stuff like height."
dlytle 15y ago
There's a lot of mention in the article about "McKinsey"; looks like that's a management consulting firm. The impression I get is that they have a bad reputation, but I have no idea why. Anyone have any insight on this?
- chlee 15y ago
  On the contrary, McKinsey is very well respected within the management consulting industry. It is part of the big 3 consulting firms: namely McKinsey, Bain, and Boston Consulting Group. The Mckinsey brand is probably the best known out of the 3.
  - andrewem 15y ago
    McKinsey is certainly one of the best-known management consulting firms. As such there's plenty, positive and negative, that's been said about them (1). To cite but the best-known instance of the negative, there's their heavy involvement with Enron. Jeffrey Skilling, who used to work for McKinsey, is now in jail for his actions as CEO of Enron (2), and McKinsey consultants were heavily involved in running the company (3). [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McKinsey_%26_Company http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McKinsey_%26_Company, especially http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McKinsey_%26_Company#Criticism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McKinsey_%26_Company#Criticism [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Skilling http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Skilling [3] http://faculty.msb.edu/bodurthj/teaching/ENRON/McKinsey%27s%20Close%20Relationship%20With%20Enron%20Raises%20Question%20of%20Consultancy%27s%20Liability.htm http://faculty.msb.edu/bodurthj/teaching/ENRON/McKinsey%27s%...
- archangel_one 15y ago
  I didn't take that they had a bad reputation; quite the reverse, that people have left their relatively prestigious job there which would look great on a CV, and now that's going to be slightly tarnished by an apparent failure at Groupon.
  - dlytle 15y ago
    Aha, gotcha; I didn't get that part. Thanks for the clarification!
bproper 15y ago
There is a history of this kind of complaint from Groupon employees, including a class action lawsuit here in the U.s. http://www.betabeat.com/2011/09/09/groupon-through-the-glass-door-darkly/ http://www.betabeat.com/2011/09/09/groupon-through-the-glass...
tlogan 15y ago
This is sales. Correct? Aren't all sales jobs like this?
michaelochurch 15y ago
Can someone revive Wall Street so it absorbs these kinds of assholes again and we can have only nice people in tech? It was nicer before the likes of Glasner and Pincus got in this game. Also, threatening to revoke a title is just idiotic. It provides nothing to the organization. (If you need to fire people, just fire them.) Titles only matter when people are leaving, and so the only effect of reducing a title is to (theoretically) make it harder to leave, but people who want to leave will use their old titles and sue the fucking shit out of their employer (libel, blackballing) if contradicted (and win). A certain large company (name withheld) had a practice of hiring people in between levels and "downslotting" about 75% of new hires to title the level below what they were promised in hiring. It didn't save any money but it flew a fucking plane into morale. That company abolished the slotting idiocy, but far too late, and it's probably a contributor to the cultural mediocrity and general decline of that company over the past 3-4 years.
buddycasino 15y ago
Thats the typical Oliver Samwer / Rocket Internet style, and thats the culture where those assholes come from. Sad, really, but somehow, this feels very german to me.
- missy 15y ago
  I ve worked in IT companies like this in Berlin and people coming from the Samwer school. They have very high ideals, which their skills and resources cannot meet, and their goals can be met early as they are clones piggy backing of the original american company. When they hit a point like i assume now, where they cannot freeload of the original, and real problems that need real new solutions emerge, that can be solved only with brains, and not brutish force, they implode. Using the old Platonic concepts of the IDEAL " A copy cannot ever be as good as its original". The Samwers exploited that most of the innovative work could be cloned from Groupon hard early but risky phase, and in Berlin you can hire very cheaply and there is a lophole in the German Intern law. Dont forget most operations are done in Berlin, this is vital for the whole company. Mason please fix this .. I love your restaurant coupons

52 points by mdariani 15y ago

If Groupon is breeching contractually agreed bonuses with it's employees, why wouldn't they challenge that in the legal system? On the other hand, "Director of Sales" is already one of the most meaningless job titles that exist.

its_so_on 15y ago
you're forgeting something. We're not talking about a Director of sales here. We're talking about a Herr Direktor of sales
- its_so_on 15y ago
  sorry i wasn't clear: titles like this mean a lot more in germany, where it's much harder to find or lose a job; they also have a record that follows them around, much like your college transcript. being a director isn't like being one in america.

dia80 15y ago

I'm not sure how this article made the front page. The swathes of awkwardly (machine?) translated German and the fact there appears to be several "CEO"s mentioned makes it very difficult to understand.

OSButler 15y ago
Plus the spoon-fed excerpts of the emails makes it look like a tabloid article. Show the full content of the emails, so the reader can make up her/his own opinion.
- mdariani 15y ago
  maybe it's better to comment below the article that they should show the whole email and not just excerpts. don't think the author of the article will read the comments here ;)

joedev 15y ago

I've always imagined a sweatshop, boiler-room operation when I think of a Groupon office.

mdda 15y ago
I'm pretty sure that's an accurate picture of the kind of sales operation that's required to make the magic work... The key difference, though, is that a stockbroker Boiler-Room is usually operating at (or around) a threshold of legality since making markets in stocks is a highly regulated industry (at the very least there's the threat of sanctions if a salesperson goes too far). OTOH, the Groupon sales team will have no such restrictions on how they sell the dream of increased customer awareness through the magic of the internet, and their vast mailing list.

tsunamifury 15y ago

Third place is "you're fired". At least Alec Baldwin offered a reward of a car and a set of steak knives for first and second place. Using only threats to motivate and not offering anything for success is usually the sign of an organization circling the drain in my experience. Granted I do have some reservations about the source here.

microtherion 15y ago
Yes, the visual I imagined went along with that article was something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-AXTx4PcKI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-AXTx4PcKI

netmau5 15y ago

Don't work at Groupon.

PhrosTT 15y ago

Any company that allows this: http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-08-31/entertainment/30000786_1_groupon-fuchsia-humor http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-08-31/entertainment... ...But getting humor writer/editor Daniel Kibblesmith onto the fifth season of The Millionaire Matchmaker demonstrates the group-buying site is as unceasingly resilient in using its savvy to generate interest in its company. "It came from a really honest place," said Groupon's PR guru Julie Mossler who suggested Kibblesmith for the show. "We knew it would come with some free publicity, but this was about getting him on the show and getting him a girlfriend." ... "I assumed I was [picked] because I was the strongest person at Groupon, but we haven't actually confirmed that yet." he joked. "They didn't want anyone too intimidating, but I know they were looking at stuff like height."

dlytle 15y ago

There's a lot of mention in the article about "McKinsey"; looks like that's a management consulting firm. The impression I get is that they have a bad reputation, but I have no idea why. Anyone have any insight on this?

chlee 15y ago
On the contrary, McKinsey is very well respected within the management consulting industry. It is part of the big 3 consulting firms: namely McKinsey, Bain, and Boston Consulting Group. The Mckinsey brand is probably the best known out of the 3.
- andrewem 15y ago
  McKinsey is certainly one of the best-known management consulting firms. As such there's plenty, positive and negative, that's been said about them (1). To cite but the best-known instance of the negative, there's their heavy involvement with Enron. Jeffrey Skilling, who used to work for McKinsey, is now in jail for his actions as CEO of Enron (2), and McKinsey consultants were heavily involved in running the company (3). [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McKinsey_%26_Company http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McKinsey_%26_Company, especially http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McKinsey_%26_Company#Criticism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McKinsey_%26_Company#Criticism [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Skilling http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Skilling [3] http://faculty.msb.edu/bodurthj/teaching/ENRON/McKinsey%27s%20Close%20Relationship%20With%20Enron%20Raises%20Question%20of%20Consultancy%27s%20Liability.htm http://faculty.msb.edu/bodurthj/teaching/ENRON/McKinsey%27s%...
archangel_one 15y ago
I didn't take that they had a bad reputation; quite the reverse, that people have left their relatively prestigious job there which would look great on a CV, and now that's going to be slightly tarnished by an apparent failure at Groupon.
- dlytle 15y ago
  Aha, gotcha; I didn't get that part. Thanks for the clarification!

bproper 15y ago

There is a history of this kind of complaint from Groupon employees, including a class action lawsuit here in the U.s. http://www.betabeat.com/2011/09/09/groupon-through-the-glass-door-darkly/ http://www.betabeat.com/2011/09/09/groupon-through-the-glass...

tlogan 15y ago

This is sales. Correct? Aren't all sales jobs like this?

michaelochurch 15y ago

Can someone revive Wall Street so it absorbs these kinds of assholes again and we can have only nice people in tech? It was nicer before the likes of Glasner and Pincus got in this game. Also, threatening to revoke a title is just idiotic. It provides nothing to the organization. (If you need to fire people, just fire them.) Titles only matter when people are leaving, and so the only effect of reducing a title is to (theoretically) make it harder to leave, but people who want to leave will use their old titles and sue the fucking shit out of their employer (libel, blackballing) if contradicted (and win). A certain large company (name withheld) had a practice of hiring people in between levels and "downslotting" about 75% of new hires to title the level below what they were promised in hiring. It didn't save any money but it flew a fucking plane into morale. That company abolished the slotting idiocy, but far too late, and it's probably a contributor to the cultural mediocrity and general decline of that company over the past 3-4 years.

buddycasino 15y ago

Thats the typical Oliver Samwer / Rocket Internet style, and thats the culture where those assholes come from. Sad, really, but somehow, this feels very german to me.

missy 15y ago
I ve worked in IT companies like this in Berlin and people coming from the Samwer school. They have very high ideals, which their skills and resources cannot meet, and their goals can be met early as they are clones piggy backing of the original american company. When they hit a point like i assume now, where they cannot freeload of the original, and real problems that need real new solutions emerge, that can be solved only with brains, and not brutish force, they implode. Using the old Platonic concepts of the IDEAL " A copy cannot ever be as good as its original". The Samwers exploited that most of the innovative work could be cloned from Groupon hard early but risky phase, and in Berlin you can hire very cheaply and there is a lophole in the German Intern law. Dont forget most operations are done in Berlin, this is vital for the whole company. Mason please fix this .. I love your restaurant coupons