Groupon was generating revenues, not profits. They also lied about their revenue declaring their gross billings as their revenue, but they should have declared their net revenue (the amount groupon keeps after paying the merchant) before going IPO ..
"People who can code in the world of technology companies are a dime a dozen and get no respect" , I disagree with that, I think you got a lot of respect in a company that is focused on technology. But If you are working into a marketing company in the development team, then yes you will not get much respect..
I'm sure the OP would agree that a coder in a marketing company would get even less respect as you'll merely be executing their (not that technically challenging) vision.
If on the other hand you're in an industry where your skills as a coder enable those around you to do new things they otherwise would not be able to do, you'll be revered for that.
What I think he means by "if you have coding as a secret weapon" in this case would be, if you are a Marketer that can code as an extra, you will be highly valued.
I am a marketer who can code in a rudimentary manner. I've done projects on a shoestring budget that have netted companies thousands of new customers and hundreds of millions of dollars.
What helps is that even if I can't code the entire project, I do know how to properly source and manage people who do. I have enough of an understanding to respectfully manage all the business and technical partners in a marketing project -- and help them work together in a way that produced a better sum of the parts.
I'm a web developer in a marketing company. What you said is partially true, especially if your management doesn't really understand development (highly likely.) However, if you are able to look at the work that comes down, and come up with better ways to do it and engage management (rather than just being a set of hands to do their bidding) you can increase your value. You will never be as valued as you would be at a tech company, but you can try.
That said, there are a number of small development companies that focus on marketing. Meaning, they are small developer run companies that take on contract code work for marketing firms (mobile apps, HTML5, etc.) and they are by default developer friendly. If you're a good dev being beaten down by management in a marketing firm, then either find one of these companies or go start your own.
