Founded in Chicago in 2008, Groupon is a shopping website that features a daily deal on top goods, services and cultural events in more than 500 markets spanning across 45 countries worldwide. Andrew Mason, its founder and CEO, has had entrepreneurial spirit ever since he was a kid.
At the age of 15, Mason started his first entrepreneurial venture called Bagel Express, a bagel delivery service. After leaving college, he started The Point, a collective action website designed to help users ignite social change. Derived from the collective action concept of The Point, Groupon took the model to a revenue-based platform.
Groupon is a win-win for local shoppers and business owners. For the consumer, Groupon brings unbeatable deals on top local experiences — everything from restaurants and salons to skydiving, hotels and dentistry. For local businesses, Groupon has changed the way they are able to market themselves and drives a guaranteed number of new customers through their door.
Pioneering and continuing to lead the daily deal space, Mason continues to demonstrate the ability to persevere and remain focused on his company’s success as thousands of Groupon clones continue to launch domestically and worldwide. Credited with inventing social commerce, Mason has changed the marketing space by creating a new and innovative way for merchants to connect with customers.
On an international level, he has used three clones to the company’s advantage by partnering with the best of the best competitive sites in countries worldwide to create a Groupon presence in 45 countries, all the while bringing Groupon’s best practices, vision and expert knowledge to these local sites to create even more robust deal programs abroad.
Constantly challenging the status quo and striving to be the best has heralded Mason much success. He constantly takes risks, adding new layers and ideas to the Groupon model. From personalized deals to real-time, on-demand deals, he has proven his competency and position as the industry’s top thought leader and innovator.
HOW TO REACH: Groupon, (312) 662-7657 or www.groupon.com
