Defining the mess Groupon finds itself in - Jeremy Goldkorn

Media watcher Jeremy Goldkorn tries to analyze for TechCrunch the mess Groupon it getting itself in, now the US firm is teaming up with China's internet giant Tencent. Sending inexperienced expats to China, might just be only one of its problems.

Jeremy Goldkorn:

But, based on my personal experience since 1997, every foreign-funded company I have ever encountered in China talking about making money from local vendors based on a “lifestyle” proposition has about a year or so before bankrupting itself or being run out of town.

And on the support from research firm iResearch:

I don’t know if Groupon is paying iResearch, but iResearch has a reputation in China for doing “research” for companies who pay them. Somehow, the companies always end up looking very good in their research reports.

It’s all pre-IPO spin. Groupon China is simply a way to bleed cash.

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Jeremy Goldkorn is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch.

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