Groupon founder Andrew Mason working on an album of business advice songs

Andrew Mason, the founder of group buying website Groupon, has set his sights on a new venture, announcing that he is working on an album of business advice songs.

“One thing that surprised me was that many would arrive at orientation with minimal understanding of basic business wisdom,” Mason says in a blog post.

“’Haven’t you read any business books? Good to Great? Winning? The One Minute Manager?’ I’d ask. ‘Business books? Not really our thing,’ was the typical response.”

Realising that many younger employees are not particularly interested in reading books, Mason decided that music might be a better way to reach his desired audience.

“It was with this in mind that I spent a week in LA earlier this month recording Hardly Workin’, a seven song album of motivational business music targeted at people newly entering the workforce,” Mason says.

“These songs will help young people understand some of the ideas that I’ve found to be a key part of becoming a productive and effective employee.”

In his blog, Mason goes on to admit that he doesn’t currently know how to upload music onto iTunes, but hopes to learn and get his album uploaded in the coming weeks.

Mason’s newfound career in music comes three months after being dismissed as Groupon’s chief executive on February 28, 2013.

As SmartCompany reported at the time, he sent a letter to all Groupon employees and posted it on Twitter explaining why he had been fired.

“From controversial metrics in our S1 to our material weakness to two quarters of missing our own expectations and a stock price that’s hovering around one quarter of our listing price, the events of the last year and a half speak for themselves. As CEO, I am accountable,” Mason wrote.

The dismissal came after Mason was rated the Worst CEO of 2012 by CNBC commentator Herb Greenberg, narrowly beating out Steve Ballmer to claim the honour.

“[Groupon] hasn’t just floundered, but flopped. It’s even had a series of accounting restatements. It now appears to be a public company in search of a business that (fingers crossed!) may work. Or (fingers and toes crossed) may get taken out of its misery by being acquired,” Greenberg wrote.

As of the start of 2011, Mason cut his salary to just $US756.72 per year, giving him a golden parachute of just $US378.36, or six months’ salary, when he left.