Invention, reinvention and standing the test of time
summary
A 33‑year company admits a product change forced on desktop users fails, posts a public apology, brought back last year's desktop product and then has its best tax season in 13 years; TurboTax online grows ~15% and reaches ~65% market share while small‑business cloud hits a 50/50 inflection. Strategy shifts include selling standalone products like Quicken and Demandforce, opening a platform, and making 16 acquisitions in 12 months to absorb competitive features — a playbook of treat failure as learnable, segment customers as markets of one, and double down where data shows real momentum.
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chapters (12)
- 0:00Introduction and context
- 1:05TurboTax product misstep and recovery
- 3:32Understanding customer segments
- 5:38Cutting legacy products
- 8:05Focus on future over past
- 9:09Fall in love with the problem
- 10:35Respecting vs revering the past
- 12:00Embracing competition
- 13:44Acquisition pricing lessons
- 14:47Acquiring Mint
- 15:52Ending Quicken
- 16:56Closing remarks
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