How is sensitive data protected?

All documents are encrypted with AES-256-GCM at rest and TLS 1.2+ in transit. A GDPR anonymization layer removes PII before any AI processing. Hosted on Vercel + Supabase (both SOC 2 Type II); Decision Intel’s own product-level audit is targeted for Q4 2026.

How long does integration take?

Less than 30 minutes. Upload documents directly, connect via OAuth for Slack, or use our REST API for bulk processing.

How does outcome tracking work?

Outcomes are detected automatically from follow-up documents, Slack messages, and web intelligence. You confirm with one click. Each reported outcome makes your future analyses more accurate.

How is Decision Intel different from ChatGPT or a general AI assistant?

ChatGPT gives one opinion from one model: ungoverned, untraceable, unaudited. Decision Intel is the reasoning audit platform. Most tools audit your data; we audit your reasoning — and catch the fatal blind spots in strategic memos before the committee does. It measures the noise in your reasoning the same way Kahneman did in the insurance underwriter study, simulates an AI boardroom of CEO, CFO, and board personas, runs what-if interventions against a 143-case public reference library, and compounds every confirmed outcome back into a calibrated Decision Quality Index your audit committee can defend. Not a chatbot; a reasoning audit, checkable from memo to outcome.

Which cognitive biases caused Groupon's failure?

5 bias patterns are documented in this case, led by Recency Bias. The full set: Overconfidence Bias, Anchoring Bias, Recency Bias, Bandwagon Effect, Hindsight Bias. Each is mapped to Decision Intel's 22-bias R²F taxonomy with stable IDs and academic citations.

What is Decision Intel's reasoning audit?

Decision Intel runs a 12-node Recognition-Rigor Framework (R²F) pipeline on strategic memos, detecting cognitive biases from a 22-bias canonical taxonomy and producing a Decision Quality Index (DQI) score. The audit produces a hashed, tamper-evident Decision Provenance Record (DPR) suitable for audit-committee review.

All case studies

FailureRetail2011

Groupon

Groupon Decline

Estimated impact: $12B in market cap decline from peak

F30

Decision Quality Index (simulated)

Critical · 5 biases detected, 2 toxic combinations

Groupon rejected Google's $6B acquisition offer and IPO'd at a $13B valuation. The daily deals model proved unsustainable as merchants saw no repeat customers, and Groupon's accounting metrics were questioned by the SEC. The company lost 90%+ of its market cap.

Decision context

Whether to accept Google's $6B acquisition offer or proceed with an IPO at a higher valuation, betting that the daily deals model had sustainable economics.

Decision anatomy

Monetary stakes

Very high

Dissent suppressed

Time pressure

Present

Unanimous consensus

Decision participants

Dissent encouraged

External advisors

Iterative process

Red = risk factor present · Green = protective factor present

Deep hindsight-stripped analysis coming soon. This case is part of our ongoing backfill to reconstruct what the platform would have flagged at decision time. The summary and bias profile below are drawn from primary sources.

Biases present in the decision

Overconfidence Bias

high

Anchoring Bias

high

★Recency Bias

critical

Bandwagon Effect

medium

Hindsight Bias

medium

★ Primary driver · Severity estimated from bias type and decision outcome

3D Decision Knowledge Graph

Groupon · 5 biases, 2 toxic combinations

Drag to rotate · Scroll to zoom · Click to explore

Decision

Critical

High

Medium

Toxic

Bias Intensity Profile

Severity × confidence across 5 detected biases

Toxic combinations

!Recency Spiral

Compound cognitive failure pattern identified in this decision.

!Optimism Trap

Overconfidence and availability bias create a systematically positive outlook that ignores base rates.

Reference class base rates

Across all 143 curated case studies in our library:

89%

base failure rate

-0%

partial / mixed

11%

base success rate

■ Failure■ Partial■ Success

Lessons learned

Recency bias: explosive 2010-2011 growth was extrapolated as the new normal rather than a novelty-driven spike
Anchoring to the $6B Google offer as a floor rather than treating it as a genuine exit opportunity
Daily deals failed because they attracted deal-seekers who never became regular customers — the business model had negative retention

Source: Groupon SEC filing S-1 (2011); SEC comment letter requiring restatement; Frank Sennett, "Groupon's Biggest Deal Ever" (2012) (SEC Filing)

Pilot slots available

We caught these patterns in Groupon's own record — before the outcome.

See the full bias auditwe ran — no login, no card. Then run the same 60-second audit on your own next memo.

See a live audit · no login Audit your own memo

Or leave your email, we'll run a strategic memo of your choosing and send the readout within a business day.

Audit your own decision

Workflows that fire on decisions like Groupon’s

The same Recognition-Rigor Framework that documents this case audits memos in the same shape — before the outcome forces the lesson.

For CSOs and Heads of Strategic Planning

Strategic memo audit

Audit a strategic memo for cognitive bias and forecast errors in 60 seconds — before the board sees it.

Audit a strategic memo

For any high-stakes decision, before commitment

Decision pre-mortem

Run a structured pre-mortem before the decision is final — surface failure modes the room cannot see from the inside.

Run a pre-mortem

For CSOs and CEOs presenting to a board

Board deck pre-presentation audit

Audit a board deck before the presentation — predict the toughest questions the room will ask.

Audit your board deck

See all 6 workflows for the full audit-tool surface.

Related cases in Retail

Catastrophic failure2022

Three Arrows Capital

Three Arrows Capital Insolvency

Failure2021

Peloton Interactive

Peloton Overexpansion and Demand Collapse

Catastrophic failure2009

Nortel Networks

Nortel Networks Collapse

Catastrophic failure2008

Washington Mutual

Washington Mutual Bank Failure

Lessons learned

Recency bias: explosive 2010-2011 growth was extrapolated as the new normal rather than a novelty-driven spike

Anchoring to the $6B Google offer as a floor rather than treating it as a genuine exit opportunity

Daily deals failed because they attracted deal-seekers who never became regular customers — the business model had negative retention