Groupon Chairman Eric Lefkofsky Defines Serial Entrepreneur

FORTUNE -- "Lets start having fun... lets get funky... let's announce everything... let's be WILDLY positive in our forecasts... lets take this thing to the extreme... if we get wacked [sic] on the ride down-who gives a shit... THE TIME TO GET RADICAL IS NOW... WE HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE..."

The quote above was uttered by Mr. Lefkofsky during the dot-com boom prior to selling his startup, Starbelly.com, for a staggering $240 million. Lefkofsky received the lion's share of the earnings. Within months of the sale, Ha-Lo Industries, the company that purchased Starbelly.com, went belly up and filed for bankruptcy.

Lefkofsky is in the spotlight again because his newest venture, Groupon, has filed for a massive IPO and the hallmarks of this offering bear a striking resemblance to all of his prior entrepreneurial ventures.

It turns out that he has become an incredibly wealthy man selling failed companies to unwary buyers. In fact, according to CNN Money, every company he has sold has shown a pattern of rapid growth despite significant losses. His track record is so checkered that he has racked up an impressive list of class-action lawsuits.

More curious still is why ALL of the primary investors in Groupon have cashed out massive sums of stock options just prior to the IPO filing? That question should really concern investors because Lefkofsky and his family have already cashed out $382 million. 

This is what passes for entrepreneurs today. Morally and ethically bankrupt crooks who care nothing for starting and running a business, but rather revel in their genius for gaming a broken system. They walk away with uncountable fortunes while their employees are left holding the short end of the stick.

Eric Lefkofsky is a Serial Entrepreneur. A word away from a lifetime behind bars.