If Groupon goes public at a $20bn valuation it will harm future startups. Groupon is not worth that valuation. If professional investors IPO Groupon at a $20bn valuation, this will seriously harm public markets, specially retail, non-savvy investors. The public will then question the whole startup ecosystem, their valuations and even see it as a bubble 2.0. Those professional investors/VCs (Kleiner Perkins, DST, etc.) who have purchased Groupon equity have to suck up their losses. It is their fault for buying into Groupon at dubious valuations. If VCs pump and dump Groupon, VCs will gain a reputation equal to those in Wall Street.