People
He co-founded Intuit after being inspired by his wife’s frustration with bill paying.
Scott Cook
Intuit’s first major product, launched in the 1980s, was named this.
Quicken
In 2012, Intuit’s total revenue was approximately this amount.
$3.8 billion
Intuit was founded in this year.
1984
The name of Intuit’s philosophy emphasizing “deep customer empathy” and “rapid experiments.
Design for Delight (D4D)
This CEO emphasized that winning companies must be both great product and platform companies
Brad Smith?
This product, launched in 1992, became the foundation of Intuit’s small business line despite initial glitches.
QuickBooks Desktop (QBD)?
Roughly what percentage of the U.S. economy moved through QuickBooks?
about 12%
QuickBooks Desktop launched in this year
1992
What was Intuit’s “Follow Me Home” program?
employees observed customers installing and using products to spot usability issues?
This SVP and GM of Financial Management Solutions described how platform shifts opened up “a whole world of different opportunities.
Dan Wernikoff?
QuickBooks Online faced this major challenge compared to QuickBooks Desktop.
fewer features and extensions, making it less robust than the mature desktop version
By 2013, how many QuickBooks customers had given Intuit explicit consent to sync their data into the cloud?
1.1 million customers
Intuit acquired Mint in this year to strengthen its cloud-based offerings.
2009
Name one competitor that positioned itself as a cloud-first alternative to QuickBooks.
Xero
Who led Intuit’s Partner Platform efforts to bring in outside developers, and what was his reasoning for opening Intuit’s products?
Alex Chriss — he argued that Intuit could leverage its large SMB base and data to become the central platform.
Name one third-party “premier app” integrated into QuickBooks via Intuit’s Partner Platform.
eBay or Salesforce.com
On average, what size loan were most QuickBooks customers looking for, and why was this a challenge for lenders?
around $30,000 — too small to process profitably through traditional underwriting
The Intuit Partner Platform was officially launched in this year
2008
What was the main concern customers had with Intuit’s Concierge program, despite its value proposition?
Concerns over privacy and irrelevant advertising inside their accounting software?
How did Intuit’s organizational incentives and culture, rooted in being a product company, create challenges for developing platform initiatives?
short-term revenue focus and product-centric skills made it difficult to invest in uncertain, long-term, partner-driven platform models?
Should Intuit have allowed third-party apps like PayPal and ADP that directly competed with its own offerings?
yes, because openness builds trust and network effects OR no, because competitors could cannibalize Intuit’s products (both acceptable with reasoning)
What are the risks and opportunities of Intuit monetizing QuickBooks’ data for third-party services?
opportunities in better targeting and new revenue streams, but risks of privacy concerns, data quality problems, and trust erosion
How did shifts in technology (cloud and mobile) force Intuit to rethink its product vs. platform strategy?
SMBs wanted anytime-anywhere access, forcing Intuit to move to cloud offerings and build ecosystems rather than just desktop products
Compare the potential business models for QuickBooks Concierge (Google AdWords-style marketplace, pre-negotiated offers, or Costco-like direct sales). Which one do you think best fits Intuit’s capabilities and why?
pre-negotiated offers, since they balance customer trust, relevance, and Intuit’s strengths, though other models could be argued?