In Chicago
It's the summer of travel. Enjoying the week in Chicago with my family and seeing some friends. I love this city...especially when the lake isn't frozen.
Everyone here can't stop talking about Groupon. Maybe it's just because I've spent so much time in the Bay Area, but I'm kind of blasé now about companies with astronomical valuations that everyone thinks will crash and burn. What I've been arguing is that while Groupon's (creative) financials may not be able to support its current valuation, it's all about execution over the long term. There's still a ton of opportunity to use the Internet to create value for retail businesses, and if Groupon can hook them with efficient (and profitable) marketing / demand generation, then follow on products and services could end up being massive. The bankers may be playing the short game, but the company's playing long ball. (Hey look, mixed sports metaphor in a sports town!) But they'll need to develop a technology / product advantage so that they don't have to compete on the size of their email list, the size of their sales force...or the cleverness of their copy.