The daily deal site Groupon’s CEO Andrew Mason told his employees that “we must avoid taking stupid risks”, according to The Wall Street Journal. Mason also discussed how the Chicago Company doesn’t “have any margin for error.” He told employees they will hear management “talk a lot about” compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley accounting rules.
“We’re still this toddler in a grown man’s body in many ways,” Mr. Mason said during the closed-door employee meeting, which The Wall Street Journal observed via webcast. At one point during the address, Mr. Mason’s voice broke and he said, “Sorry, too much beer.” The meeting was part of an informal town hall series, in which employees are encouraged to ask questions of executives and beer is made available to all in attendance, a spokesperson told the Journal.
The financial revision, Mr. Mason said at the meeting Wednesday, was “the latest in a string of just us making an example of how bad we are at being a public company. We have to get good at this.” He further said, Groupon needs to slow down and focus on fewer initiatives, including on “quality and control” and “not taking stupid risks.”
