Where Did Groupon’s Billion Dollars (Series G) Go?
Legal Pyramid Scheme, nothing more.<p>The founders and early stage investors build something semi-viable, then spend all their efforts on marketing. Some of helps to grow the product, but most to convince bigger investors to buy them out and assume the risk.<p>Why on earth would investors do this, you ask? Well, because they know that given the marketing, there will be other investors that will allow them to exit.<p>Repeat until IPO, then ride the wave until the explosion. Time it right you make a fortune.<p>Unfortunately, a minimum of effort goes into creating a lasting product with a proper valuation, so the moment that most investors realize that they aren't going to make their money back, ka-boom.<p>Dot bomb all over again. Groupon is not a billion dollar company.