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ANDREW MASON (pictured), who was ousted on February 28th as the chief executive of Groupon, the online-coupon company he co-founded, was refreshingly blunt about his fate. Not for him the typical corporate clap-trap about this being the right time to seek a new challenge and to contemplate the future of the cosmos. Here’s an excerpt from his resignation memo:
2月28日，在线团购公司“高朋”解雇了其首席执行官兼创始人安德鲁?梅森（如图），他本人直言不讳的简述了这一变数。不仅仅是他，外界舆论也随声附和地认为，这是他寻求新挑战及未来方向的最佳时期。以下是摘自安德鲁辞职声明中的一段话：
“After four and a half intense and wonderful years as CEO of Groupon, I’ve decided that I’d like to spend more time with my family. Just kidding—I was fired today. If you’re wondering why…you haven’t been paying attention. From controversial metrics in our S1 [a securities filing] to our material weakness to two quarters of missing our own expectations and a stock price that’s hovering around one quarter of our listing price, the events of the last year and a half speak for themselves. As CEO, I am accountable.”
“作为首席执行官，我在高朋经历了忙碌又精彩的四年半时光，现决定花更多的时间和家人在一起。这只是开个玩笑-我今天被解雇了。如果你想知道原因，那说明你一直都没留意过这个问题。从S1文件中备受争议的业绩指标，到两个季度业绩均未能达到公司自己的预期，再到徘徊在上市价格四分之一上下的股价，过去一年半中的所有事情都说明了一切。作为CEO，我应对此负责。”
Bravo, Mr Mason. Schumpeter salutes you for your honesty, your sense of humour and your desire to “give Groupon a relief valve from the public noise” surrounding your leadership of the company. The only snag is that Groupon is unlikely to get much of a break while it hunts for a new chief executive. (In the interim, it will be run by Eric Lefkofsky and Ted Leonsis, two of its board directors.)
梅森，你说得不错。熊彼特对你的诚实，你的幽默感，以及你的希望（外界对你领导能力的质疑使高朋有一个喘息时间）都肃然起敬。唯一的困难是，高朋在寻觅新一任执行官的时候，不大可能有太多的喘息机会。（在这期间由两位董事长埃里克?莱夫科夫斯基和副董事长泰德?莱昂西斯暂时担任执行官）
The online-coupon business has become ferociously competitive and people are becoming more picky when it comes to choosing from among the vast number of deals for spa treatments, haircuts and other things that are now available on the internet. The day before Mr Mason’s defenestration, Groupon revealed that it had made an operating loss in its latest financial quarter and its shares fell to $4.44 each in after-hours trading. The firm’s market capitalisation has plummeted from around $13 billion at its flotation in 2011 to around $3 billion today.
在线团购业务的竞争非常激烈，当人们在如养生，美发及其他网购服务上有更多的选择机会时，变得越来越挑剔。在梅森遭解雇的前一天，高朋公司透露了最近一个季度的运营亏损，以及股票价格在盘后交易中降至4.44美元。公司的市值从2011年上市约130亿美元猛降到现在的30亿美元左右。
Groupon did create a new market, but it now faces plenty of copycats such as LivingSocial and has seen behemoths such as Google wade into the business too. Known for “exploding” offers that expired after a short period of time, the firm has been shifting steadily towards deals that stay valid for longer. And it has been building a new business line called Groupon Goods, which sells things such as watches and nail polish at discounted prices.
高朋的确是创造了一个新的市场，但是现在它面对许多如“社会生活”（美国第二大团购网站）的“山寨”公司的竞争，如今像谷歌这样的大公司也涉足这一行业。众所周知，高朋公司提供限时的大幅折扣产品，现已稳步趋向建立长期有效的交易关系。该公司现正在建立一个名为“高朋产品”的新业务部门，以折后价售卖产品，如手表，指甲油。
Diversifying revenue streams makes sense. But in choosing to sell discounted goods, Groupon has plunged into another area that is intensely competitive. The company has also allowed its costs to balloon, particularly in its international operations. It will need to slash these without damaging growth, which will require a tricky balancing act. The firm’s international revenues fell 16% in its latest quarter.
收益来源多样化是权宜之计。但是在决定售卖折扣商品时，意味着高朋公司迅速进入另外一个竞争激烈的领域，同时也得容许扩大成本，特别是在国际业务上的成本。公司需要削减成本而不阻碍经济增长，这一点需要仔细平衡协调。该公司的国际收益在最新季度中下降16%。
In his farewell missive, Mr Mason said his departure would give Groupon “some breathing room to break bad habits”. Perhaps it will, but curing them will not solve Groupon's biggest problem, which is that the underlying economics of its business model have always appeared shaky. The firm's share price may rise in coming weeks on hopes that a new leader can turn it around, but in the long term its stock is unlikely to be a good deal.
在他的辞职公开信中，梅森说，他的离开会使高朋有喘息的机会来纠正旧习。也许会，但是这样做并不会解决高朋的最大问题，即这种基本的商业模式经济一直都不太稳定。如果新任执行官能使公司经济好转，股价也许会在未来几个星期里回升，但是从长期来看，股价不可能有太多的增长。
