Groupon really is approaching a $2 billion run-rate in annual gross revenue, not the $800 million run-rate reported by Mashable, according to a source familiar with the company's financials.
Earlier, Mashable's Ben Parr wrote, "according to a trusted source with firsthand knowledge of Groupon’s financials, 'everyone is wrong' about the startup’s revenue numbers."
But a source familiar with Groupon's financials tells us that if you calculate the run-rate based on Groupon's most recent performance (Q4), $800 million is not even close.
Our assumption is that Mashable or its source is basing its run rate for Groupon on Q3 numbers, the most recent full quarter. (Or maybe net revenue, not gross?)
But Groupon is growing so fast that it makes more sense to look at Q4 numbers. And according to our source, Groupon is approaching $2 billion in annual revenue, based on November's numbers.
Anyway, this is a mostly academic exercise. Groupon will probably far exceed $2 billion in 2011 revenue, based on the rate at which it is growing, both organically and by acquisition. So Google's offer for the company looks to be about 2X-3X revenue
So what's it like to work at Groupon? Click here for our photo tour of its wacky Chicago HQ →
