Except: the assurance-contract aspect of Groupon is now just an eccentricity. Every deal is designed to hit its target; maybe the businesses get some small peace of mind knowing that they're sure to get X bodies through the door or pay nothing, but the value is all elsewhere, from promotional acumen.

And, the other idealistic parts of Groupon's groups-reaching-threshold-for-collective-action vision mean very little for their overall success, compared to more conventional ideas like great copywriting, being the first mover, having a large incentive-compensated sales staff, having a great name/brand, and so forth.