Groupon Goes Corporate, Zynga Stays Zany

Despite all the visionary talk from young dot-com CEOs, the golden rule still applies on Wall Street: That is, the person who has the gold makes the rules. This certainly has been illustrated by the Groupon offering.

Until a few weeks ago, Groupon�s CEO Andrew Mason was a wacky character. He liked to make funny facial gestures and crack jokes while giving interviews. He turned down a $6 billion offer from Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) last year. Even in the original filing for Groupon�s IPO, Mason included a funky letter to prospective shareholders. In it, he talked about empowering the �little guy� and how his company was �unusual.� The most interesting line: �Life is too short to be a boring company.�

My, how things have bored down for Groupon.

For example, the once-unhinged Mason now is wearing a suit and tie while putting together a fairly corporate-friendly presentation on his IPO road show.

And now Mason is saying the kinds of things that jazz up investors, like Groupon’s apparent new policy to fire the 10% worst-performing salespeople — each year. This could come to nearly 500 pink slips annually and certainly would motivate the remaining 90%.

The idea isn’t exactly new — this was something General Electric�s (NYSE:GE) former CEO, Jack Welch, implemented to save the company from implosion during the 1980s. Of course, Enron also used the 10% game plan.

But on the other side of the dot-com bubble is Zynga, which also is expected to go public in November. This company’s brash approach has not been diminished.

A sure sign is Zynga�s new headquarters, which looks like a high-tech amusement park. At the entrance, you�ll see a Winnebago. And as you wander about, you�ll find numerous massage chairs and other way-cool expensive furniture, as well as cafes well-stocked with sushi. (Let the Occupy Wall Street folks eat cake!)

A few weeks ago, Zynga�s CEO Mark Pincus launched 10 new games at the offices, which were packed with reporters — the scene was more reminiscent of a Hollywood film, not a business product launch.

True, this stuff is really over the top. But then again, Zynga is being authentic to its culture. The company understands this is important, especially when trailblazing a new market.

As for Groupon — it seems it will do whatever it needs to kowtow to Wall Street�s whims.

Tom Taulli runs the InvestorPlace blog �IPO Playbook,� a site dedicated to the hottest news and rumors about initial public offerings. He is also the author of �All About Short Selling� and �All About Commodities.� Follow him on Twitter at @ttaulli. As of this writing, he did not own a position in any of the aforementioned stocks.