Kudos to Groupon

Just saw Groupon CEO interviewed on CBS' 60 Minutes last night...There are so many exciting aspects to this (not that we should all become marketing brokers...), here are a few observations:

1. The CEO's personality infuses the company. In the case of Groupon...this is fun, uplifting and pushing people and technology along together. He's a bit quirky. I love this. I'm surrounded by stuffed shirts that were born in stripped ties. He embraces who he is and just runs with it. 
2. I love how Groupon uses creativity in concert with technology. The actual write-ups are works of art. Who says you can't be an English major and work in technology. It also demonstrates that technology is a medium that requires kick-ass content to sing. Double-congrats on this level. 
3. The persuasiveness of Groupon illustrates clearly that if you have an idea that fits the economic times, you can fly - -and fly high. To all the nay-savers...you can if you try to match what you have to the market, make a go and make a brilliant go of it.
4. I like that they are hiring. I like that I saw rows of young people, working and working hard. This helps disspell many of the myths that today's American youth are entitled and are not hard working. I'm starting to believe that we are all hard-wired to want to succeed, work hard ...or just let the circumstances overtake us. 

This firm is about dreams, guts, perhaps luck and just hard work. It would be cliche...but this is quintessential American. They are humbled by their meteoric rise and are using base liberal arts skills of problem solving and creativity to create a new business model while using technology as a conduit.  This model is not for everyone, but it does show that there is room for others

I encourage you to look at what you do daily - -is there room for creativity, for a different angle - can you operationalize some aspect of what you have in your domain to make it resonate with just one more person, market segment...Let's bring our game on...