Groupon finally published an internal email which rankled regulators, and in it CEO Andrew Mason says Groupon Getaways with Expedia "will do $10 million in its first calendar month."
Mason sent the email to employees Aug. 25, about six weeks after Groupon and Expedia began rolling out their vacation product.
The letter drew the ire of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, largely because would-be IPO players aren't supposed to communicate financial information to employees if the same information is not made public for the benefit of investors.
Groupon published the email as part of a larger amended S-1 registration statement Oct. 7.
In the email, Mason characterizes some of the media reports about the financial challenges of Groupon and the group-buying space in general as "hilarious" and "nonsense," and he sought to provide "some ammo to argue back against your blog-reading 'friends.'"
Mason cites four main reasons for his "excitement" about Groupon's IPO prospects and among them are, "Our investments in the future -- businesses like Getaways & NOW -- look great."
Getaways refers to the Expedia partnership and NOW! Deals feature Groupons that can be redeemed the day of purchase only.
The other key factors fueling Mason's optimism are that the company's "core business is strong;" Groupon is advancing further ahead of the competition, and the quality of the team.
Mason writes:
Travel and Product are enormous opportunities. After only a few months, they're already making up 20% of revenue in some countries. We sold $2M worth of mattresses in the UK—in one day! Groupon Getaways will do $10M in its first calendar month—which you might think is awesome, but we're actually disappointed with those results because we know how much better we'll be doing soon.
So despite the beginnings of Getaways looking "great," Groupon sees travel as such an enormous opportunity that Mason admits he's "actually disappointed" at taking in $10 million in the first month.
Clearly, travel is a major component of Groupon's expansion strategy.
So when Priceline CEO Jeffery Boyd questions Expedia's strategy with Groupon, perhaps Mason is providing some data about the potential scale of the business and ammo to some who may think Expedia made a wise move.