Groupon Co-Founder Lefkofsky to Focus on VC Fund

In a

published Monday, Groupon

co-founder and Chairman of the Board Eric Lefkofsky said that he will be focusing on his venture capital firm Lightbank and stepping back from his day-to-day operational involvement at Groupon. Lefkofsky said that he will retain his role as Chairman of the Board and continue to work with Groupon co-founder and CEO Andrew Mason, but noted that with each new executive hire at the company, his hands-on role has diminished. "Any entrepreneur can appreciate being understaffed, so in the early days whenever Andrew needed me, I would help out – typically with finance, operations and legal," Lefkofsky wrote. "When Groupon was a 'young' company, Andrew and I wore a lot of different hats. Every time we hired someone new, we gave up a hat. Given the breadth of the team today, everyone's hat is planted firmly on the right head, which has allowed me to focus on doing what I do best." He said that his focus has shifted more towards Lightbank, the VC firm he founded with partner and Groupon's other co-founder, Brad Keywell. "I look forward to continuing to work with Andrew in my ongoing role as Chairman of the Board, but in the meantime, I've immersed myself in Lightbank and am focused on growing the company and working with Brad and the rest of the Lightbank team to try to define what it should be as it matures." Lefkofsky said that his goal is to make Lightbank into the Berkshire Hathaway

of technology companies. Disclosure: Lightbank is an

in Benzinga.