Groupon started in November 2008! Don’t let media fear stop you! Many people were critical of this answer. How come? Because of all the media hype pulling Groupon’s numbers apart and saying this is a horrible business.
FACT: Groupon is the fastest growing revenues business in history. They started less than three years ago and have 1.5 billion in revenues this year. The founders have already cashed out probably close to a billion dollars.
Someone said, “But they don’t make money.”
Excuse me, isn’t it enough in less than three years to be pulling down $1.5 billion in revenues? Most companies don’t get to, or don’t even want to, be profitable until they’ve been in business 5-10 years. They have to grow first. Amazon took a decade and now they are spewing profits right in our faces and they will continue to do so forever.
November, 2008 was a scary month:
A) The financial system was collapsing
B) Unemployment hadn’t yet skyrocketed but was about to
C) I was lying on the floor of countless hotel rooms crying about my lack of luck
D) Company after company was going out of business
Did that stop the Groupon guys? Should it stop you, just because they aren’t yet profitable? And, by the way, I can find countless examples of companies started in the Great Depression that became amazingly profitable. But let’s leave it at this: don’t let the news stop you from beginning your path to World Domination.