(Crain’s) — Groupon Inc. didn’t go far to find its new chief operating officer, hiring Google Inc.’s highest-ranking executive in Chicago, Margo Georgiadis.
Ms. Georgiadis, vice-president of global sales planning and technology for Google, is expected to be named to the job this afternoon, a source briefed on the matter told Crain’s. Groupon declined to comment.
The Chicago-based daily-deal site has been searching for a COO since former Yahoo marketing executive Rob Solomon said last month he would be stepping down from the No. 2 job to return to Silicon Valley. Filling the job is seen as crucial for Groupon, which is said to be preparing for an initial public offering later this year, because investors will want to see a seasoned management team around 30-year-old co-founder and CEO Andrew Mason, a programmer who is untested as a day-to-day manager of a sprawling company.
Groupon hired Jason Child, 42, a top finance executive from Amazon.com as its chief financial officer in December.
Groupon has undergone explosive growth, mushrooming from about 200 employees a year ago to more than 6,000 worldwide today. Revenue is believed to be more than $200 million a month and growing 25% to 30% a monthly.
“When you have free thinkers as CEOs, investors are OK with that, but they want a strong operating person as the No. 2,” says Lise Buyer, founder of Class V Group LLC, an IPO advisory firm in Palo Alto, Calif.
Ms. Georgiadis, 47, is a former McKinsey & Co. consultant, who joined Google last year. She leads sales for several Google businesses, overseeing 1,600 people.
She was chief marketing officer at Riverwoods-based credit card company Discover Financial Services before joining Google.
Ms. Georgiadis is the latest Google executive in Chicago to be hired by other high-profile technology companies. Kevin Willer, who opened Google’s Chicago sales office in 2000, left earlier this month to head the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center. Jeff Levick, a former vice-president of marketing for the Americas, was hired as AOL Inc.’s president of global advertising in 2009.
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