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I don't know if Groupon made a mistake, only time will tell, but this statement irked me a bit:

VC: “Founders make different decisions when money doesnt matter. He doesnt HAVE to sell, so he can wait. He can do what he thinks is right for the business. He can focus on his legacy.”

This can easily be the other way around: the founder chooses to focus on his legacy instead of what is right for the business.

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One nuance that I would add to your thinking. In the VC's eyes "right for the business" really means "swing for the fences." In a VC's eyes, taking risks that will kill a business 85% of the time but give 30x returns the other times are probably doing "what is right for the business" because of the structure of how they invest. In VC land, the big big wins pay for everything else. In that case, I would argue they should be strongly in favor of cashing out founders nicely when a business takes off. It is much easier to swing for the fences when you're not worried about striking out.

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