Groupon Inc., founder Andrew Mason

      A week after turning down Google Inc.'s $6-billion offer to buy his company Groupon Inc., founder Andrew Mason took his show on the road to New York City, sitting down with Charlie Rose on Thursday night.

      He didn't make the sort of surprise announcement about Groupon's future that then-Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel did earlier this year when he told Mr. Rose he wanted to run for mayor of Chicago.

      Although Mr. Rose repeatedly asked the 30-year-old why he passed up the Google deal, Mr. Mason wouldn't play along. He displayed the quick wit and verbal judo skills that friends say makes him as smart as he is quirky.

      When asked why he chose to eliminate Google as an option, Mr. Mason said it “has to do with whether or not I beat my wife. I know what you're asking and you know I'm not going to answer.”

      When Mr. Rose, a master interviewer, persisted, Mr. Mason grinned and said: “I can't talk about this and a lot of other things largely because every person you go on a date with, you don't bring them home to your parents right away.”

      Mr. Mason spent most of the half-hour interview describing Groupon as the digital savior for mom-and-pop businesses by getting users to click on daily deals for manicures, restaurants or flying lessons.

      “We're tricking (people) to get out of their house and live their lives,” he said. “We found a way to make the coupon cool.”

      He likened the discounts, which some have criticized as bad deals for businesses who end up losing money on a lot of new customers, as “managing supply of supply for small businesses … with less inventory going waste — like Amazon or Wal-Mart.”

      Mr. Mason, a pianist who studied music at Northwestern University, also flashed some self-deprecating humor.

      “I think of us as the ‘N Sync' of websites. We're not the Beatles. We're not making the best music out there.”

      As social-networking tools on the Web become more effective, “you'll see more companies like us who put us to shame with their rate of growth.”

Source from Chicago Business

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