How Groupon Saved the World
Did you know that Groupon started out as a platform to help social movements? It did. It was called "The Point" and it provided a mechanism for groups of people with shared interests to join together, create economies of scale and when a critical mass - or tipping point (thus, the name) - was reached, everyone had to take the action to which they had committed. 
Then the company got an investor who allowed them to continue doing what they were doing. For a while. But one day the investor said, "Don't you think it's time to monetize this platform?" or words to that effect.
Happily for Andrew Mason, Groupon's founder and CEO, the users of The Point had already begun using the platform as a money-saving mechanism - like to buy subscriptions to The Economist magazine as a group. At a very good discount.
That taught Mr. Mason how a social movement could become a money-maker. Fast and big. Just the way investors like it.
And, thus, Groupon was born - making discounts available to groups of people all over the world through online and mobile timed coupons.
But like lots of companies that start out small and hopeful but somehow create new worlds, Groupon is growing up. And there's no better indication of that growth than the fact that it is just about to go to IPO and make its investors millions and, in some cases, billion of dollars.
Even though it's never made a profit and its management team isn't sure exactly when that tide will turn.
Happily, though, because the venture capital model works the way it does, when Groupon makes its VC investors their billions, that money will fund, in part, the ongoing GreenTech investments that those same venture firms are supporting
Which is a good thing. Because if there's no world left as a result of climate change and any of the other myriad problems that the GreenTech and CleanTech innovators and entrepreneurs are addressing, there would be no coupons for the lovely people at Groupon to sell.
So, the next time you buy something using Groupon, pat yourself on the back. After all, your purchase is also your contribution to a safer, greener world.
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