Today we're focused on small acquisitions to add technology where necessary. I think it's fair to say we're not out looking for a large one but I think it's also very fair to say that as a public company you can never say never.
Generally what people tend to underestimate is the cyborg nature of Groupon. We are a company that has the DNA of being both a technology company and a heavily operational company.
I definitely think what drives technology companies is the people because in a technology company it's always about what are you going to do next.
A company can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on firewalls intrusion detection systems and encryption and other security technologies but if an attacker can call one trusted person within the company and that person complies and if the attacker gets in then all that money spent on technology is essentially wasted.
If Apple's a technology company in the music industry why can't somebody in the music industry make technology?
I love what the Valley does. I love company building. I love startups. I love technology companies. I love new technology. I love this process of invention. Being able to participate in that as a founder and a product creator or as an investor or a board member I just find that hugely satisfying.
People are stunned to hear that one company has data files on 185 million Americans.
We had maybe the greatest success of any company that I know of in Paris and after two or three years I wanted to do this same number that we did for PBS so we did it and Paris had always considered us their darlings.
All business success rests on something labeled a sale which at least momentarily weds company and customer.
The legacy of Steve Jobs and the strength of Steve Jobs is that he established a company that's clearly firing on all cylinders and clicking very well.
I was an All-American in wrestling in high school was National Champion in Chinese kickboxing in 1999 and have spent a lot of time around professional athletes which includes my eight-plus years as CEO of a sports nutrition company.
Sports teams people who follow sports teams religion churches work - any company I find that people just generally have a need to belong to something larger than themselves.
If you allow for a purely capitalistic society without any type of regulation at all you will get one monopoly that will eat all of the smaller fish and own everything and then you'll have zero capitalism zero competition - it would just be one giant company.
I am now quite cured of seeking pleasure in society be it country or town. A sensible man ought to find sufficient company in himself.
Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work a company work a society work a civilization work.
We tried to set up a company that patterned ourselves after Southwest in all the fun the spirit the great people the smile the efficiency side of it but we've added some extras that people aren't used to finding on Southwest.
The company of fools may first make us smile but in the end we always feel melancholy.
I've started a company called Tall Girl Productions and we've got our first project that is purely producing not writing with a writer named Evan Daugherty. It's for NBC it's called 'Afterthought ' and it's science fiction-ish. That's fun.
When I find myself in the company of scientists I feel like a shabby curate who has strayed by mistake into a room full of dukes.
It's a sad man my friend who's livin' in his own skin and can't stand the company.
If it's a romantic holiday the only thing I need is my wife. We love quiet and calm places where we can't be disturbed. Neither of us likes being in busy places we would much rather stay in our hotel room and enjoy each other's company.
I expect that our associates will walk with a little more bounce in their step and understand that this company is behind them and has respect for them.
My parents started a business out of the living room of our home and 30-plus years later it was a multimillion dollar company. So President Obama with all due respect don't tell me that my parents didn't build their business.
My goal is to get another 30 years out of this business. So I need to figure out the fuel to do that. And so far I think it's respect and quality and company not celebrity or box office or stardom. It's not a sprinter's approach. It's more like a long-distance thing. You can stick around a lot longer if you kind of slow-play it.
It is not when truth is dirty but when it is shallow that the lover of knowledge is reluctant to step into its waters.