(Photo: Tipster)

Your Name Here A Silicon Valley source had the pleasure of dining near Path cofounder Dave Morin and his wife, Brit.co founder Brit Morin recently. Mr. Morin spoke about the future of Path while Ms. Morin, a DIY enthusiast, used crayons provide by the restaurant to doodle on the paper table cloth, said the source. There were rainbows, flowers and balloons, but our favorite was a drawing of the Brit.co logo, with "Morin" written underneath and an arrow pointed towards Ms. Morin (just in case the restaurant staff didn't recognize her). That's one way to disrupt advertising, we suppose. Our tipster was kind enough to snap a pic on their way out.

Happy Internet, Mr. President Twice this week in conversation with tech types, Betabeat was asked when Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian was running for office already. The 29-year-old credited with helping to defeat SOPA/PIPA already toured the country (in a bus once leased for John McCain's  “Straight Talk Express") running for president of the Internet. But with Sheryl Sandberg hot on his heels, isn't it time to start campaigning for the real thing?

Last we heard, Mr. Ohanian was rumored to be launching his own startup reality show on MTV. However, he was recently spotted handing out awards on behalf of Republican Congressman Darrell Issa, who likes to call himself "the House GOP's chief watchdog."

We've reached out to Mr. Ohanian comment, but perhaps this lulzy tweet is response enough:

Lol RT @michaelpryor: I just realized why Alexis Ohanian's senate race hasn't yet begun. You have to be 30 years old to be a senator!

— Alexis Ohanian (@alexisohanian) March 1, 2013

(Photo: Instagram/Neil Blumenthal)

Here's Looking At You, Kid Warby Parker celebrated its third birthday last night. And what better way to mark a $41.5 million funding round and potential Google Glass partnership than champagne at Grand Central Terminal. Ain't startup life grand?

Duly Noted We're starting to wonder how the geniuses at Rap Genius get any work done. The beef-starting startup promptly uploaded Andrew Mason's farewell letter and started annotating. A sampling of the notes: "Seems like Andrew has too much swag for a public company, they need to find more of a “boring loser” type…" Can't imagine why this team would be so ready to defend "swag."

VC Ben Horowitz also chimed in with a more sedate contribution, saying, "Andrew does the stand up thing and claims accountability. Make no mistake though—although he’s the only one accountable, he’s certainly not the only one responsible for all the things that went wrong." Wait, was that a dig at Eric Lefkofsky?

No Micky D's Please Worth noting: Gross slideshows about how McDonald's terrible blunders of yore perform far better, numbers-wise, than flattering slideshows about a company-funded visit to HQ.

But since McDonald's paid for airfare + hotel, not such a big deal. Also, 4 kinds of mcnugget shapes! h/t @bupbin businessinsider.com/mcdonalds-four…

— Peter Kafka (@pkafka) February 28, 2013

Star Power Hey, what'd you do for the Oscars? Presumably you went over to a friend's house and had a couple of beers and fell in love with Jennifer Lawrence, like most of America. Well, AllThingsD grand dame and Vanity Fair contributor Kara Swisher was there. Like, Hollywood there. NBD! She tweeted Sunday, "Weird Oscars, now onto the party," complete with Insta. On another snap, she added, "Observation on first and only Hollywood party: Celebs are just like us (except prettier and more insecure)."

Snacks You know what's a really great diet, according to former Google employee Mike Dudas? Quitting Google to work somewhere else without that cafeteria. We've always heard free suckling pig goes straight to the hips.

(Photo: Vanity Fair)

Rumors of Andrew Mason's imminent demise as Groupon CEO started swirling back in November, but the bubble officially burst today following Groupon's "disastrous" financial report.

Yesterday, in response to question about how the numbers would affect Mr. Mason, Groupon spokesperson Paul Taaffee told Bloomberg, "He’s here today." He was speaking literally.

Groupon just announced that Mr. Mason is being replaced. The company has named a "newly created Office of the Chief Executive," led by executive chairman Eric Lefkofsky and vice chairman Ted Leonsis, who will "serve in this role on an interim basis."

Mr. Lefkofsky, whose venture firm Lightbank recently set up shop in New York, got some attention pre-IPO when he and cofounder Brad Keywell used a Groupon funding round to cash out shares worth $451 million--a tactic he's used in the past.

As Business Insider points out, Mr. Lefkofsky also "has interests in several companies that have close relationships or contracts with Groupon that, for a long time, have represented a conflict of interest for the company, as disclosed in its SEC filings."

Take this disclosure from a recent 10-Q filing:

"[Lefkofsky's] investments may be in areas that present conflicts with, or involve businesses related to, our operations. There can be no assurance that our business will not be adversely affected as Mr. Lefkofsky devotes less time to our business in the future."

Groupon's board, which is currently searching for a new CEO, has its work cut out for them.

This week, the company revealed that Q1 revenue would be $560 million to $610 million, when analysts (on average) predicted $647.7 million. Groupon also said it lost $81.1 million (12 cents a share) in Q4, when analysts predicted a loss of 2 cents per share. That led to the largest intraday decline since November, with stock diving 19 percent yesterday afternoon.

However, shares are up in after-hours trading once Mr. Mason's ouster was announced.

In the press release, Mr. Lefkofsky thanked Mr. Mason, on behalf of the board, "for his leadership, his creativity and his deep loyalty to Groupon."

But through an unverified Twitter account, @AndrewMason tweeted a link to an unconfirmed good-bye letter that says he was fired.

https://twitter.com/andrewmason/status/307239473165516800

The letter has since been deleted, but we have a screencap from earlier this afternoon. And it has mensch written all over it.

Mr. Mason took accountability for his role in the company's financial weakness--a first from Startupland? He also praised his employees, admitted failure, referenced the NES videogame Battleroads, and asked for recommendations for how to lose the Groupon 40. (Nota bene: this is coming from a leader who presided over some sophomoric stunts and "financial voodoo," that adversely affected his company.)

OK, I’m good on the fat camp recommendations.You may stop.Thank you.

— Andrew Mason (@andrewmason) February 28, 2013

Enjoy your new waistline, Mr. Mason. Sounds like you earned it.

Just before the long weekend, Michael Buckley from Brunswick Group, a PR firm employed by Groupon, not only called peHUB reporter Connie Loizos to complain about a story, but to get her facts straight, Mr. Buckley suggested taking a look at a leaked memo from Groupon CEO Andrew Mason that somehow found its way into Kara Swisher's hands at AllThingsD. Yup, the very same leaked memo that Henry Blodget alleged violated securities law. Ms. Swisher's role in that aside, as Ms. Loizos points out, the quiet period does not permit "calling journalists and urging them to read leaked CEO letters."

As Fortune.com's Dan Primack sees it, however, the fault lies with the SEC, not Groupon. In the latest issue of the magazine, he makes his position clear with the headline, "It's time to kill the IPO quiet period."

Even Ms. Loizos seems to agree that change is in order, writing, "I don’t begrudge Brunswick for wanting to defend its client, and like a lot of people, I think the SEC’s quiet period could use some updating."

But Mr. Primack calls for throwing out the rule book altogether in part because the "antiquated" quiet period regulations only hold for the public and "ultimately protect one set of investors at the expense of another":

The irony, however, is that while Groupon cannot easily defend itself in public, it will soon be able to do so in front of a select, private audience of institutional investors who may participate in the IPO.

Companies going public typically produce an electronic road show, in which the CEO and other company executives make a presentation about the company and then take questions from prospective investors. It is available to the public online until the stock begins trading. In these sessions CEOs are instructed to keep referring to the IPO prospectus and not speak too much off the cuff.

What follows are private meetings with the money managers. Transcripts are rarely kept, and some sources say that a comment like Lefkosky's would not be unusual. Neither would an answer to a question that the CEO declined to address during the electronic road show. Even if CEOs stick to the script, hedge fund managers can watch body language and other nonverbal cues that the public never sees.

Mr. Primack's populist message that, "It's time for the SEC to let companies communicate more freely with everyone, not just the chosen few," is convincing, to a point. Mr. Primack seems certain that modern-day tech investors are savvy enough to put optimistic company-issued statements in perspective. But if execs like Groupon chairman Eric Lefkofsky gave out a soundbite about Groupon being “wildly profitable” the day after the quiet period went into effect, just imagine what he'd do with the muzzle off.