Groupon: Another Market Success
Details here. Incidentally, the most important part of this article–the news you can use–isn’t about Groupon, but about its parent site:
As I was investigating the website for Groupon, I discovered that it was a specific application of the more general website, The Point. As the short video at the link explains, The Point exists to solve collective-action problems. Whether it’s something trivial like raising money from coworkers to buy a ping-pong table for the break room, or something grand like raising a million dollars to fund a long-shot political candidate, The Point offers a convenient way for people to conditionally pledge to give money (or perform some other action) if enough other people sign on.
What’s especially intriguing is that The Point offers members the option of joining a cause anonymously, with their identity being revealed only if the “tipping point” (hence the name) has been reached.
Conclusion
Groupon is an extremely clever idea with an equally catchy name. It is just one example of the solutions that free entrepreneurs can dream up to solve social problems. Libertarian dreamers should familiarize themselves with the campaigns at The Point to see if there are applications to achieving their ends, such as adopting alternate currencies or developing a Friedrich Hayek Super Bowl commercial.
Bob I love that you’re dipping into my area of expertise: web startups!
However there’s a flip side to Groupon’s success:
http://blog.redfin.com/blog/2010/09/groupons_success_disaster.html