Yesterday I reported on a letter to shareholders from Groupon CEO, Andrew D. Mason. The main point of the letter was to express his vision for the future of the online coupon giant and to lay out the pieces of the puzzle so Groupon’s actions made more sense to investors. One key point Mason stressed was that heavy investments back into the company could mean a rocky road for stakeholders.

Mason comments about the downfalls of fast growth for the investors:

“In my letter to potential stockholders that accompanied Groupon’s S-1, I warned investors of a bumpy road—an unfortunate side effect of our unprecedented growth.”

Well his comment is very poignant, because Groupon’s investors haven’t exactly been thrilled with the company’s performance. In fact, they recently made some changes to leadership in order to be a little more financially savvy in their decision making process for the future.

This next inforgraphic from BusinessInsurance.org helps shed some light on their current financial problems, but also shares some tips on what we can learn from Groupon’s mistakes.

One key detail from the graphic that stands out to me has to do with Obama’s recently signed “Jobs Act”. Part of the bill allows the Securities and Exchange Commission to help companies with accounting and financial issues before they go public. This would have helped Groupon out a lot and I am sure shareholders would have been grateful.

Take a look:

Via: Courtesy of: BackGroundCheck.org