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Groupon: The next Amazon or another Myspace?
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But for Groupon, the online daily deals site, imitation may also be a startup killer. With an easily replicated business model and Google breathing down its neck, can Groupon survive?
Lesley Stahl and her producer Shachar Bar-On cover the "tech beat" at "60 Minutes." After high-profile interviews with founders of Facebook and Microsoft, this week Stahl and Bar-On turn to Groupon founder Andrew Mason. What they found was a man with an enormous target on his back.
Imitators, including the all-powerful Google, are threatening to eat away at Groupon's territory. It wasn't long ago that Groupon was fielding a $6 billion buyout offer from Google (Mason declined!) and now, Google is said to be ramping up efforts to take over the daily deal space on its own.
Groupon grew from a simple idea to a $15 billion company in just three years. Will it last? Was Mason crazy to say no to Google? What do you think?
Watch: 60 Minutes Overtime, 01.15.12
A weekly web show that begins where the 60 Minutes television broadcast ends. Tune in every Sunday for behind-the-scenes footage, candid conversations with producers about their stories, and classics from the "60 Minutes" archive.
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