Groupon is a social commerce company that launched in 2008 in Chicago. It offers daily deals with deep discounts (50-90% off) on local goods and services to its over 25 million subscribers. Groupon uses a 50-50 revenue sharing model where it receives half the purchase price from customers and passes half to participating merchants. It grew rapidly within its first two years, becoming the second company in web history after YouTube to reach a $1 billion valuation in under seven months. However, Groupon also faced significant challenges stemming from its business model.