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 Groupon Inc. Chief Executive Andrew Mason said Wednesday he remains the best person to steer the daily deals site out of its recent slump, despite reports that the board at the company he founded may start searching for a new boss. 
 
 The CEO acknowledged there have been "bumps in the road" and said that with the stock down 80% from its initial public offering, it is the board's responsibility to ponder if he is fit to lead the company. 
 
 However, "if I ever thought I wasn't the right guy for the job, I'd be the first person to fire myself," ... 

 In a normal world, it's not a good sign when a CEO publicly balked at the state of affairs at his company, highlighting its hemorrhaging stock price. But we learned long ago that Groupon does not operate in a normal world. The wavering daily deals site isn't just falling on hard times anymore. It's swimming in them. Groupon stock rocked Nasdaq last November when it went public at $20 a share and rallied to close at $28 on the first day of trading. It's gone nowhere but down since then, and on Tuesday, a share of Groupon cost just $3.96. That amounts to a staggering 80 percent decline in just a year. 
 
 Enter Andrew Mason, Groupon's founder and chief executive. At a Business Insider conference on Wednesday, Mason admitted that "it would be weird" if Groupon's investors didn't question his leadership after such a epic fall from grace. He admitted that the company he founded just four years ago "had bumps in the road" and was "paying for" its decision to expand in Europe too soon. "Here's a news flash: our stock is down about 80%. It would be more noteworthy if the board wasn't discussing whether I'm the right guy for the job," Mason added. "If I ever thought I wasn't the right person for the job, I'd be the first person to fire myself." 
 
 Well, Groupon investors just loved this idea. By the end of the day, the company's stock skyrocketed, picking up a 12 percent gain and closing at $4.42. That's still a long ways from $28, but the price is certainly not as close to 0 as it was before Mason ostensibly offered to show himself the door. In truth, Groupon's problems run much deeper than Mason's shortcomings as a leader. After Mason's interview on Wednesday, Business Insider's own founder Henry Blodget said in a blog post that the bump in price could just be a "random market fluctuation." 
 
 Or it might be genuine hope that Mason is approaching his company's problems forthrightly. Indeed, it sounds like he is. All things considered, Mason says, "I want to do what's best for Groupon." Based on the market's reaction, it sounds like the best thing for Groupon might just be Mason talking more about firing himself. That, or actually doing it. 
 
 Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire. 
 
 Adam Clark Estes 

 Groupon Chief Executive Andrew Mason talks the future of the company and his job. (Antoine Antoniol / Bloomberg / ) 
 
 On Thursday, Groupon Inc.’s board members will reportedly debate the fate of Andrew Mason, the chief executive of the struggling daily deals site. 
 
 But then again, “it would be weird” if they didn’t, he said. “It’s their chief responsibility to ask that question.” 
 
 After all, this is a company whose stock has tanked since it went public barely a year ago. Experts are claiming “deal fatigue” among consumers overwhelmed by an onslaught of online coupons and discounts. The European debt crisis and resulting austerity measures have put a deep crimp in Groupon’s operations on that continent. 
 
 “It would be more noteworthy if the board wasn’t discussing whether I’m the right guy for the job,” Mason said Wednesday at a conference hosted by Business Insider. “If I ever thought I wasn’t the right person for the job, I’d be the first person to fire myself.” 
 
 Last November, Groupon went public at $20 a share, opening at $28. On Tuesday, it closed at $3.96 a share -- a plunge of more than 80%. 
 
 Quiz: What set the Internet on fire in 2012? 
 
 But Mason spent much of the chat defending the company, pointing to its growth in North America, its potential to keep expanding, its evolution from email blasts to a searchable marketplace option, bankruptcy chances so low they’re “absurd” and the “resiliency” of his colleagues to “external noise.” 
 
 He admitted, however, that Groupon has “had bumps in the road” and that the company is “paying” for its decision to ramp up quicky in Europe instead of investing heavily in technological development, as it had in North America. 
 
 Groupon stock bumped up slightly during Mason’s words and was trading mid-day above $4 a share. Ultimately, he said, “I want to do what’s best for Groupon.” 
 
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 Groupon shares climb 31% in first day of trading 
 
 
 
 Groupon "to reinvent" local shopping: CEO letter to shareholders 
 
 On 1-year anniversary of IPO, Groupon shares plunge to record low 

 LivingSocial Inc. is slated to launch a major round of layoffs Thursday, with as many as 400 job cuts expected across its U.S. workforce, according to sources with knowledge of the daily deal giant’s plans. 
 
 Those cuts are expected to span a wide range of positions and markets, including in LivingSocial’s home turf of D.C., the sources said. It is not known how many will occur in D.C., where LivingSocial maintains six offices downtown. 
 
 A LivingSocial spokesman declined to comment. 
 
 The layoffs raise a host of questions about the future. First and foremost: LivingSocial in July won an up-to $32.5 million tax break from the D.C. Council on the promise that it would stay based in D.C. The legislation calls on the company not only to maintain and expand its 1,000-employee base in the District, but to move into a new headquarters of at least 200,000 square feet. With a smaller local staff, opening up a larger D.C. office becomes far less practical, raising questions about whether LivingSocial will be able to claim that credit when it takes effect in 2016. 
 
 For the 5-year-old social commerce company, the long-rumored layoffs reflect a struggle to stabilize itself financially after a frenzied headcount expansion in 2011. LivingSocial, which has raised more than $800 million in funding, entered 2012 with a staff of roughly 5,000. The company’s most recent publicly disclosed headcount stands at “more than 4,500 employees,” according to its website. 
 
 LivingSocial posted a net loss of $566 million in the third quarter, $496 million of which stems from a massive write-down of some of its acquisitions from 2011. Its revenue fell to $124 million in the three-month period, down from $138 million in the second quarter. 
 
 The cuts appear to be the first major round of U.S. layoffs for LivingSocial. In July, the company let go of Senior Vice President Dickson Chu, who led its nascent merchant services division, along with other executives. Those cuts came several months after co-founder Eddie Frederick stepped down from his role as president. 
 
 While the company has sought to bring in new revenue streams, the traditional daily deal remains its core business. The financial struggles of both LivingSocial and its chief competitor Groupon Inc., as well as a shrinking army of smaller niche players, raise fundamental doubts about a model that requires merchants to accept a steep discount on the promise of reaching a population of new customers. LivingSocial has seen some success diversifying beyond the daily deal, with newer products like LivingSocial Escapes and LivingSocial Families making up a quarter of its revenue as of June. Get the day's technology news delivered to your inbox Monday through Friday mornings.Click here to sign up for our new TechFlash email.
– Things still aren't so cheery in daily-deals land, with two of the biggest players in the space—Groupon and LivingSocial—taking a hit in the press after taking a hit in the wallet. The latest: LivingSocial will announce today that it's cutting almost 9% of its staff, sources tell the Washington Business Journal. That's about 400 jobs. The news comes on the heels of a depressing Q3, in which the company reported a $565 million loss and saw revenue fall by $14 million to $124 million. And in the case of Groupon, the chopping block could be placed at the CEO's door. With its stock having crashed 80% since its IPO, the board may be looking to boot Andrew Mason. It meets today, reports the Wall Street Journal. Mason appeared at a Business Insider conference yesterday, and one soundbite is getting a lot of play, per the Los Angeles Times: "It would be weird [if the board didn't question my leadership]. ... It would be more noteworthy if the board wasn’t discussing whether I’m the right guy for the job. If I ever thought I wasn't the right guy for the job, I'd be the first person to fire myself." Investors apparently liked the idea of Mason giving himself a pink slip, writes Adam Clark Estes for the Atlantic Wire, because the company's stock closed up 12% at $4.42. "That's still a long ways from $28, but the price is certainly not as close to 0 as it was before Mason ostensibly offered to show himself the door."