LivingSocial explained

LivingSocial
Url:LivingSocial.com
Commercial:Yes
Type:Electronic commerce
Language:English and others (for 27 countries)
Owner:Groupon
Location:Chicago, U.S.
Launch Date:[1] (as Hungry Machine)
Current Status:Active
Revenue:$536,000,000 (2012)[2] $57,000,000 (2015)[3]

LivingSocial is an online marketplace that allows its registered users to buy and share things to do in their city.[4] Formerly headquartered in Washington, D.C., LivingSocial had roughly 70 million members around the world in 2013. The company shrank from a peak of 4,500 employees in 2011 to about 200 in 2016.[5] [6] LivingSocial was purchased by Groupon in 2016.

History

LivingSocial was founded as Hungry Machine in 2007 by four employees from Revolution Health Group.[7] After acquiring BuyYourFriendADrink.com in 2009, LivingSocial launched a daily deals website.[8] [9] The company offered its first deal in July 2009.[10] By July 2010, the company had launched deals in 25 cities.

By 2011, LivingSocial had raised over $800 million in venture capital funds.[11] That same year, the company generated $238 million in revenue but lost $499 million.[6] In 2012, a class action lawsuit was filed against LivingSocial with respect to the expiration of deals, following a similar action against Groupon.[12] A provisional settlement was reached in November 2012.[13]

In 2012, the Government of the District of Columbia offered the company a number of tax breaks and incentives to open offices and hire workers in Washington, DC. However, a year later the company did not reach the size it needed to be for the tax breaks to kick in, as it had begun laying off workers and subleased offices it purchased earlier.[14] The company also announced it was changing its focus from daily deals to a website and mobile app.

On April 26, 2013, it was announced that LivingSocial's database had been hacked, affecting 50 million registered users. While the announcement stated that credit card information not compromised, other user information including passwords was exposed.[15] [16] On May 1, 2013, the Attorneys General of Connecticut and Maryland sent a joint letter to LivingSocial requesting additional information about the incident, as well as more details about the company's data management policies and procedures.[17]

By 2015, LivingSocial had 800 employees, down from a peak of 4,500 in 2011. In 2016, it laid off half of its remaining workforce. That year, The Washington Post reported that many laid off or departed workers formed new tech companies in LivingSocial's home city of Washington, DC.[18]

In October 2016, Groupon Inc. purchased LivingSocial for an undisclosed amount.[19] The Washington Post later reported this amount was $0.[20] Groupon began laying off all remaining employees and closed the LivingSocial D.C. office.[21]

Leadership changes

In March 2012, co-founder Eddie Frederick stepped down as president and from the board of directors.[22] A year later in March 2013, co-founder and CTO Aaron Battalion stepped down from his post.[23] In January 2014, LivingSocial's CEO Tim O'Shaughnessy announced his resignation, remaining CEO until a replacement was named.[24] In July 2014, it was announced that Gautam Thakar, then-CEO of Shopping.com at eBay, would succeed the position of CEO at LivingSocial.[25]

Acquisitions

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: HungryMachiene.com WHOIS, DNS, & Domain Info - DomainTools. WHOIS. 2016-07-10.
  2. Web site: LivingSocial Company Profile. inc.com. Inc.. 19 June 2014.
  3. Web site: LivingSocial cuts its Q4 loss but revenue down, expenses up. Washington Business Journal. 1 September 2016.
  4. Web site: Company Overview of LivingSocial, Inc.. https://web.archive.org/web/20090715223828/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=46949916. dead. July 15, 2009. www.businessweek.com. Bloomberg. 20 June 2014.
  5. News: Peterson. Andrea. LivingSocial is laying off more than half of its workers. Washington Post. 1 Sep 2016.
  6. Issac, Mike and Benner, Katie. New York Times, Nov. 20, 2015. "LivingSocial Offers a Cautionary Tale to Today’s Unicorns". Accessed Sept. 1, 2016.
  7. Web site: Empson. RIp. Confirmed: LivingSocial Co-founder Eddie Frederick Steps Down From Leadership, Board. TechCrunch.com. 30 March 2012 . Tech Crunch. 19 June 2014.
  8. Web site: McCarthy. Caroline. BuyYourFriendaDrink gets bought. www.cnet.com. CNet. 19 June 2014.
  9. Web site: Yarow. Jay. Exclusive Q&A with LivingSocial CEO. Business Insider. 19 June 2014.
  10. News: RIP LivingSocial: The fast rise and slow demise of a daily deals company. Overly. Steven. Washington Post. en. 2019-03-21.
  11. News: LivingSocial Offers a Cautionary Tale to Today's Unicorns. Isaac. Mike. 2015-11-20. The New York Times. 2019-04-08. Benner. Katie. en-US. 0362-4331.
  12. http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/print-edition/2012/07/06/livingsocial-coupon-suit-gains-steam.html?page=all Washington Business Journal
  13. Web site: Kamenetz. Anya. LivingSocial Ordered to Pay $4.1 Million to Settle Class Action Suit. fastcompany.com. 26 March 2013. Fast Company. 19 June 2014.
  14. O'Connell, Jonathan. The Washington Post, Oct. 6, 2013. "LivingSocial has yet to reach hiring and other goals to claim D.C. tax breaks. Accessed Sept. 1, 2015.
  15. News: Living Social Database Hacked; 50 Million customers impacted . redtape.nbcnews.com . 2013-04-26 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130428133237/http://redtape.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/26/17933466-livingsocial-database-hacked-50-million-customers-impacted?lite . 2013-04-28 .
  16. Web site: Why LivingSocial's 50-million password breach is graver than you may think . Ars Technica . April 27, 2013 . Dan Goodin . November 8, 2014.
  17. Radke. Bruce A.. Michael J. Waters . Letter from Attorneys General to LivingSocial Can Serve as Guide for Companies Seeking to Protect Personal Information. The National Law Review. May 16, 2013. Vedder Price. 2161-3362.
  18. News: Overly. Steven. How LivingSocial is giving rise to the next wave of Washington start-ups. Washington Post. 1 Sep 2016.
  19. News: Groupon Buys Rival LivingSocial, Reports Another Loss. FitzGerald. Drew. 2016-10-26. Wall Street Journal. 2016-10-27. Beckerman. Josh. 0099-9660.
  20. Web site: RIP LivingSocial: The fast rise and slow demise of a daily deals company. Overly. Steven. 25 February 2017. www.washingtonpost.com. 22 April 2018.
  21. Web site: Learning the LivingSocial lesson: Let Amazon take the financial risk with HQ2, a former D.C. official says. www.bizjournals.com. 2018-08-27.
  22. Web site: Empson. Rip. Confirmed: LivingSocial Co-founder Eddie Frederick Steps Down From Leadership, Board. techcrunch.com. 30 March 2012 . TechCrunch. 4 September 2014.
  23. Web site: LivingSocial CTO Aaron Batalion to step down. wjla.com. 18 March 2016. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160326012153/http://wjla.com/news/government-matters/livingsocial-cto-aaron-batalion-to-step-down-86946. 26 March 2016.
  24. Flook, Bill. January 10, 2014, Washington Business Journal, "Exclusive: LivingSocial CEO Tim O'Shaughnessy to step down". Accessed March 3, 2014.
  25. News: Stynes. Tess. LivingSocial Names Gautam Thakar CEO. Wall Street Journal. 15 July 2014. 28 August 2014.
  26. Web site: LivingSocial Acquires Adventure Company to Improve Daily Deals. Grove. Jennifer Van. Mashable. 19 October 2010. en. 2019-04-08.
  27. Web site: LivingSocial jumps on Australian group-buying outfit . March 2012 . Sydney Morning Herald . 2016-07-11.
  28. Web site: LivingSocial acquires a majority stake in Let's Bonus . 13 January 2011 . www.fusiondiginet.com . 2011-04-13.
  29. Web site: Lunden . Ingrid . 2015-02-12 . LivingSocial Offloads Let's Bonus, Its Last Non-English Business [Updated] ]. 2023-03-14 . TechCrunch . en-US.
  30. Web site: LivingSocial gains wealth of ruby on rails expertise with Infoether acquisition . 14 March 2011 . www.techcrunch.com . 2011-04-13.
  31. Web site: LivingSocial Expands Daily Deals Empire; Buys Ensogo, GoNabit And DealKeren. TechCrunch. en-US. 2019-04-08.
  32. Web site: In Asia Push, LivingSocial Buys South Korea's TicketMonster. Laura. Owen. August 2, 2011. gigaom.com.
  33. Alex Wilhelm, "Groupon's $260M Acquisition of Ticket Monster from LivingSocial Has Closed,", TechCrunch, January 2, 2014.
  34. https://www.wsj.com/articles/groupon-to-sell-46-stake-in-ticket-monster-to-kkr-anchor-equity-1429535016M
  35. News: LivingSocial Buys Online Ordering System Provider ONOSYS . www.bloomberg.com . 2012-04-26.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "LivingSocial".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.