How about a platform for businesses? I've noticed an emerging trend of Fortune 500 companies listing their Facebook sites in their advertisements rather than their own location on a TLD. For instance, will facebook.com/mastercard become plus.google.com/mastercard?
I'm sold on Google Chrome, but it's frustrating that some sites aren't available on Chrome and I'm forced to used Firefox and Safari from time to time. Does that qualify me as a user of all three, thereby inflating the statistics?
Just the ones that you rarely have to deal with, but you do have to deal with. Like your insurer's site, your bank's, if you're in college and you have to take tests online, that too.
Bank sites are just terrible in general. Why is my least secure password always on a bank site? Shouldn't they have the highest requirements as far as security goes?
Is is possible to spoof the user agent and fool the server into thinking you user Firefox?
Some of those places just hard-code the possible choices of compatible browsers, and that list is 5+ years old. Once in a while I still see sites that advertise their support for Netscape.
Time Warner Cable -> Bill Pay will not allow the site to load in Chrome. Then again, infrastructure operator interests are not generally aligned with Google's (an open web and TV over IP).
Yeah, occasionally educational software (like taking a test online or something) will render incorrectly in Chrome. I don't know why this is, but some old web apps use hacks that are not standards compliant.
No pop does not = bad IPO. Pandora raised more capital than intended as the final IPO price of $16/share was about double that of the initial target IPO price range of $7 to $9. The lack of stock price volatility in the market is often a good thing as it allows the company a clearer picture of its capital base.
But in most cases, common stock can only be sold if and when an IPO takes place. VC investors won't want common stock, thus the employee must sell on a secondary market, back to the company, or patiently wait for an IPO. The first two options usually feature inherently dubious pricing due to reduced liquidity. Are there any other possibilities?
I'm curious to see the success rate of entrepreneurs without college degrees vs. those with degrees, however you might define success and over whatever time horizon. What do you think?
Groupon isn't trying to pretend that they're profitable or that they'll be profitable in the near term. Smart long-term investors will look at their financials and their business model in order to make an educated bet on whether Groupon can successfully transition from astonishing hypergrowth to sustainable profitability -- preferably after the dust kicked up by the IPO clears.
Groupon are trying to pretend they're profitable — that's a major component of the original article here. They even made up a new accounting metric to try to persuade people of this (if you only avoid the pesky sales+marketing spend).
