The deal service Groupon on Tuesday announced CEO and co-founder Eric Lefkofsky would step down, and Rich Williams would take over the company immediately. The company said Lefkofsky would return to the role of chairman of the board. Williams told TechCrunch in an interview that he plans to renew investment in …

It’s a bad deal today for Groupon, the company that built a business around daily deals for goods and services and has since expanded into areas like commerce solutions for small businesses. The company’s stock opened at $2.81 after dropping more than 30% in pre-market trading, on the heels of a triple-whammy of news: a CEO …

Yet more news of closures at Groupon, the daily deals and local commerce platform. TechCrunch has learned and confirmed that the company has ceased operations immediately in four more countries, all in Europe, where its business has been in decline: Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland. The news comes amid a …

Startups can now reach international markets almost immediately at launch. Product/market fit is geographically, industry and company-size agnostic — SaaS makes your product adoption almost instantaneous. Although this early global traction can happen organically at the beginning, the reality is that startups must be strategic about systematically scaling from a local …

After seeing big and small competitors collapsing or withdrawing altogether from the race, Groupon still enjoys an undisputed leadership in the deal space. However, with slow growth in North America, and no growth at all in the international markets, the once fastest-growing company in history is having a hard time …

Another day, another series of Silicon Valley e-commerce explosions: Gilt Groupe just sold for a fraction of its valuation (and its capital raised) and One Kings Lane is reportedly the next to die. Previously it was Fab.com being sold for nothing after severely underperforming — ah, Fab, the first billion-dollar retail “unicorn” born with …

Not dead yet, deal site Groupon soared 23% in initial after-hours trading, following a better-than-expected fourth quarter earnings release. The company beat revenue forecasts, bringing in $917 million, instead of the anticipated $846 million, and a 9% year-over-year increase.  Adjusted earnings per share was at four cents, whereas Wall Street …

It’s over! (Nearly.) This week was the last set of big earnings reports, barring a few happening early March — Square and Box, to be exact. It was a wild week, to be sure. Groupon (surprise!) beat expectations, sending the stock soaring. Pandora was reportedly in buyout talks, and had a …

It’s a tough world out there for on-demand startups — confusion around the W2 vs. 1099 conversation, tough margins, and customer service are but a few of the initial obstacles for these companies. Add in the necessity of huge amounts of up-front capital and it’s an uphill battle at best. …

For the last several years, Groupon has been expanding its business beyond the daily deal to position itself as the platform for local commerce. Some of those efforts have proven to be more challenging than others, however. And so, as Groupon now downsizes in less profitable areas, it’s also making a return to products that are tried, tested and lucrative. …