BuyYourFriendADrink.com

BuyYourFriendADrink.com, founded in 2007 by Steven Cohn, operated as an e-commerce platform specializing in social gifting within the beverage and hospitality sector. Cohn, who holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and had prior experience at DoubleClick and IBM, leveraged his background in technology and business operations to launch the venture. His entrepreneurial journey continued after this venture, as he later founded other tech startups, including Validately and Winware.ai.

The company's core business was an online service that enabled users to purchase gift certificates for alcoholic beverages for their friends. These gifts could be delivered electronically via email and text message, or as a physical gift card, providing flexibility for the sender and recipient. The business model was primarily transactional, generating revenue by charging a small fee for each drink purchased through the platform. Beyond individual consumers, the service also presented a value proposition to beverage brands, offering a trackable and viral marketing channel to drive product sampling with target demographics.

The service was operational across a proprietary network of approximately 300 bars and restaurants in 16 states, including major metropolitan markets like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C. This network was the key asset, providing the infrastructure for the gift certificates to be redeemed. The company secured $625,000 in funding from investors, including New York Angels and Alpine Meridian, to scale its operations.

In a significant milestone, LivingSocial (at the time operating as Hungry Machine) acquired BuyYourFriendADrink.com in April 2009 for an undisclosed sum. This strategic acquisition was pivotal for LivingSocial, as it leveraged the platform's concept to launch its own successful daily deals service, marking its entry into the social commerce space. Following the acquisition, Cohn transitioned into a role as General Manager at LivingSocial. The parent company, LivingSocial, was subsequently acquired by its rival Groupon in 2016.

Keywords: social gifting, e-commerce, beverage marketing, gift certificates, bar network, restaurant rewards, online gifting platform, Steven Cohn, LivingSocial acquisition, drink voucher, digital gifts, hospitality tech, alcohol sampling, New York Angels, customer acquisition tool, brand sampling, promotional marketing, transactional model, mobile gifting, email gifts