Groupon Exec Jumps Ship for Google
Here's another sign, if one was needed, that Groupon is coming unhinged when it can least afford it: The company's COO, Margo Georgiadis, has jumped ship after just five short months for her old employer, Google.
Georgiadis, who was poached from her position as a VP at Google, said in an all-company email:
"Groupon is a great company and I feel privileged to have worked there even for a short time. It was a hard decision to leave as the company is on a terrific path. I have complete confidence in the team's ability to realize its mission."
This certainly won't help their rushed stumble to go public before they run out of cash.
Here's the whole email from Groupon CEO Andrew Mason:
As a fast-growing company, we've done a lot of hiring this year,
including on our senior executive team. Since the beginning of 2011,
we've made a total of 8 additions - that's 57% of the total executive
team. It would have been great if I could say that we batted 1,000%,
but in one instance, it looks like we didn't find a fit; after five
months at Groupon, Margo Georgiadis, our COO, has decided to return to
Google (her former employer) in a new role as President, Americas.
We're disappointed that we were unable to make it work with Margo, but
hiring isn't easy, and we support moving quickly when there isn't a
match. It's the best way to do business.On the bright side, we've built a fantastic team that has proven
itself highly capable, so this change won't have an impact on
operations. In fact, we are using it as an opportunity to reorganize
in a way that reflects our evolving strategic priorities.
Specifically, here are the changes we'll be making:* Marketing, under Rich Williams, will report into me
* Business Channels, under Aaron Cooper, will report into me
* NOW, under Dan Roarty, as a business channel, will report into Aaron Cooper
* National Sales, under Lee Brown, will report into U.S. Sales under Chris Muhr
* US Operations, under Hoyoung Pak, will report into meHere's a note from Margo: "Groupon is a great company and I feel
privileged to have worked there even for a short time. It was a hard
decision to leave as the company is on a terrific path. I have
complete confidence in the team's ability to realize its mission."Andrew