Executive Chairman. Co-Founder. Investor. Eric Lefkofsky has worn many hats since he and CEO Andrew Mason founded Groupon together in November of 2008. Yesterday, though, Lefkofsky announced that he would be shifting his focus to investing activities at Lightbank and limiting his day-to-day involvement in Groupon.
“When Groupon was a 'young' company, Andrew and I wore a lot of different hats. Every time we hired someone new, we gave up a hat. Given the breadth of the team today, everyone’s hat is planted firmly on the right head, which has allowed me to focus on doing what I do best.
I look forward to continuing to work with Andrew in my ongoing role as Chairman of the Board, but in the meantime, I’ve immersed myself in Lightbank and am focused on growing the company and working with Brad and the rest of the Lightbank team to try to define what it should be as it matures.”
Lefkofsky went on to describe his vision for Lightbank’s future by explaining what he thinks it shouldn’t be. To him, Lightbank’s future success depends on open-mindedness, thinking outside the rules and building value unconventionally.
If Lefkofsky achieves his stated goal of turning Lightbank into “the Berkshire Hathaway of technology companies,” it could mean big things for Chicago’s entrepreneurs. It could mean a focus on disruption rather than the status quo, on creating companies people wish for rather than those that make gobs of money, on art rather than volume. A venture capital firm that plans for growth based on these would take Chicago even further as a technology hub. In fact, a Lightbank focused on quality rather than quantity could turn a whole class of dreamers into makers.
