We launched 'The Point' in September 2006, but after floundering for about a year, we pivoted to create Groupon.

The idea for Groupon emerged from recognizing that group buying was a viable business model, especially since people were already attempting group purchasing campaigns through 'The Point'.

After a couple of weeks, it became clear that we were onto something significant with Groupon, and we began making projections about its potential growth.

I found it difficult to deal with clones of Groupon, as it felt demoralizing to see others copy our concept without the same passion for building a startup.

When we launched Groupon, we started with a two-for-one pizza deal at a local bar called Motel Bar, which was a simple way to test the market's interest.

I received a million dollars to drop out of grad school and work on 'The Point', despite having no prior experience in starting a tech company.

After selling my first company to Groupon, I wanted to work on something that would inspire me and allow me to create new skills and knowledge. I never want to be 80 years old looking backwards and wondering what if I tried.

I came up with the idea for 'The Point' while I was a grad student at the University of Chicago, aiming to create a social platform for collective action that required a tipping point of participation.

The biggest mistake I made at Groupon was rationalizing exceptions to our values, which ultimately led to failure in consistently putting the customer first.