Groupon has replaced chief executive Andrew Mason. Here is his leaving letter  in full.

(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

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