It's a little unfair to call it "pump and dump" which is a specific kind of unethical stock play. The points you made show how Groupon was a creature of the venture model, and executed well:
No barriers to entry, so you have to exploit first mover advantage as quickly as possible: Check.
Audience and advertiser numbers are more important than anything else: Check.
Executing on these points is worth any risk, and never mind the cost or the plausibility of the P&L projections of throwing as many salespeople at the problem as it takes to be dominant: Check.
Groupon executed on what turned out not to be a viable model with total focus. Nobody remembers who the 3rd-27th players in their market were, and their investors lost most if not all of their money.
No barriers to entry, so you have to exploit first mover advantage as quickly as possible: Check.
Audience and advertiser numbers are more important than anything else: Check.
Executing on these points is worth any risk, and never mind the cost or the plausibility of the P&L projections of throwing as many salespeople at the problem as it takes to be dominant: Check.
Groupon executed on what turned out not to be a viable model with total focus. Nobody remembers who the 3rd-27th players in their market were, and their investors lost most if not all of their money.