Andrew Mason, o irreverente CEO da Groupon, foi despedido ontem depois de resultados pouco interessantes no trimestre. As notícias da saída do homem que tornou a empresa num sucesso fizeram as ações disparar mais de 13% nas trocas fora de horas.

Mason manteve o espírito até na hora da despedida. “Depois de quatro anos e meio intensos e maravilhosos como CEO da Groupon, decidi que gostaria de passar mais tempo com a família. Estou a brincar – fui despedido hoje”, escreveu, numa nota final aos empregados da empresa de cupões de desconto. Antes de começar o texto, referiu: “isto é para os empregados da Groupon, mas estou a escrever publicamente porque vai ser tornado público

[leak] de qualquer forma.”

“Se vocês se estão a perguntar porquê… não estiveram a prestar atenção”, acrescentou o empreendedor de 32 anos, assumindo a responsabilidade pelos resultados dececionantes da empresa nos últimos tempos. A Groupon perdeu mais de 500 milhões de euros nos últimos três anos e disse aos analistas que as receitas do primeiro trimestre serão 10% inferiores ao esperado.

Mason será substituído temporariamente por Eric Lefkofsky, chairman executivo, e Theodore J. Leonsis, vice-chairman.

Leia aqui a nota integral de despedida:

(This is for Groupon employees, but I’m posting it publicly since it will leak anyway)

People of Groupon,

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 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.

You are doing amazing things at Groupon, and you deserve the outside world to give you a second chance. I’m getting in the way of that. A fresh CEO earns you that chance. The board is aligned behind the strategy we’ve shared over the last few months, and I’ve never seen you working together more effectively as a global company – it’s time to give Groupon a relief valve from the public noise.

For those who are concerned about me, please don’t be – I love Groupon, and I’m terribly proud of what we’ve created. I’m OK with having failed at this part of the journey. If Groupon was Battletoads, it would be like I made it all the way to the Terra Tubes without dying on my first ever play through. I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to take the company this far with all of you. I’ll now take some time to decompress (FYI I’m looking for a good fat camp to lose my Groupon 40, if anyone has a suggestion), and then maybe I’ll figure out how to channel this experience into something productive.

If there’s one piece of wisdom that this simple pilgrim would like to impart upon you: have the courage to start with the customer. My biggest regrets are the moments that I let a lack of data override my intuition on what’s best for our customers. This leadership change gives you some breathing room to break bad habits and deliver sustainable customer happiness – don’t waste the opportunity!

I will miss you terribly.

Love,

Andrew

Fonte: Dinheiro Vivo

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