(Intuit Values Etchings)
I’ve been hinting for the last couple of weeks that I have a couple of big announcements to make. This is the first of them.
Starting next week, I begin my job with Intuit as the marketing lead on their Partner Platform. I’m pretty freakin excited about this move for multiple reasons. Here they are:
- I’m a data geek and when I first sat down with Alex Chriss, the Business Leader of the Intuit Partner Platform, about this opportunity, he gave me a scrumptious look into just how much amazing data Intuit has that can really help small and mid-size businesses rawk it.
- Intuit, itself, needs people from ‘my world’ (i.e. grassroots, startups, etc.) to help lead it into the next phase. I like feeling needed, but I also saw that I can make a difference in this big, successful, solid company. As soon as the opportunity was presented to me, I started thinking about all of the awesome things I could do by connecting Intuit, the web community, small businesses and even other big, successful, solid companies together to really empower those small to mid-size businesses. My first order of business is to resist using acronyms as much as possible.
- I, personally, could use a little schoolin’ on corporate America. Though I’ve worked for larger organizations before, I haven’t worked for a company quite the size of Intuit. I’m used to the fly by the seat of my pants, embrace the chaos kind of process that makes things happen quickly and is subject to much risk. This, of course, needs to be balanced with more structure when you scale up to a larger organization and one is accountable to a large workforce and client base. I’m about to find out how to balance that. I’m pretty excited to see where I can push boundaries and where boundaries can push me.
- I need to sink my teeth into a really kickass project. And THIS is a kickass project. Intuit has long been the trusted name in business accounting software and has made some tentative moves to the online space. However, the Partner Platform is a huge leap in the direction that the business world is going. When you add up the trusted name of Intuit with the excitement and innovative possibilities of the Partner Platform, you get a big, fat WOWSA of an opportunity to make a real difference.
- 2009 is going to be the year when small businesses will bloom. These layoffs really stink, but the more people I talk to who are getting laid off, the more people I’m hearing are making a go of starting their own ventures. They’ll need some good support. Enter the Intuit Partner Platform. I want to provide the tools everyone needs to succeed with their new ventures.
- The team on this project is killer! I get to work with one of my favorite people in the world, Alex Barnett, who is – I think – one of the sharpest nails in the toolbox when it comes to developer network stuff. I’m really excited about working with him. We riff really well off one another and he’s a very down-to-earth person himself…which I heart. I’ve also grown quite fond of Alex Chriss despite the fact he talks in acronyms. Alex C and I have much in common: Canadian, startup background, brilliant, amazing ideas and willing to fight for what we believe in. A good guy to have in my corner. I also got to briefly meet the delightful Bill Lucchini, who is the Vice President & General Manager, Platform-as-a-Service Group, who knows his sushi, is also super smart and is the right kind of person to lead this effort. I have yet to meet the rest of the team, but if they are anything akin to those I’ve already met, I’m pumped!
So, there you go. The stubborn indie who revels in her odd work hours (12pm-12am), movement making abilities (it’s a full time job in itself!) and addiction to Twitter (another full time job) is going corporate. And, dammit, I’m excited about it. 
Here is the announcement from Intuit.
(stay tuned for announcement #2!)
January 22nd, 2009 at 1:13 pm
WELCOME TARA! With the team we’re building, I’m like a kid in a candy shop…You are going to absolutely rock IPP. YAY!
January 22nd, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Congrats Tara – corp aint so bad! Best of luck with the role – and you’re right..2009 is the year of small (I like agile) business!
January 22nd, 2009 at 1:17 pm
Tara-
Congrats! Well deserved and seems like a natural fit!
Look for more updates…
January 22nd, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Congratulations on the big move Tara!! I love intuit and now love it more that you are there!!!!!
January 22nd, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Congrats Tara!!!
January 22nd, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Congrats Doll! I’m so proud and excited for you
January 22nd, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Congrats! Can’t wait to see what’s coming next, both for you and Intuit (I’m a long time client)
January 22nd, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Congratulations Tara!
Big corporations are different but not that scary. I hope your skills, personality and community are appreciated by the good folks at Intuit.
Cheers,
David
January 22nd, 2009 at 1:38 pm
Congratulations Tara. This is going to be an awesome year for you. Fantastic team? Check! Challenging and fantastic project? Check! Ability to work on something that matters? Check! Pure awesomeness. You go girl!
January 22nd, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Yay!!
Congrats Tara…looking forward to changing the world with you!!!
January 22nd, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Tara:
Congratulations. I think you might be interested in http://www.johnseelybrown.com/newsletter.html, which links to an interesting article on successful innovation from a corporate and business viewpoint.
cheers
hh
January 22nd, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Congratulations – and it IS a great experience going corporate for awhile. It broadens one in many (sometimes painful, often informative) ways. Good for Intuit for doing what it took to attract you to it.
Don’t drink the Kool-Aid, and looking forward to seeing you at SxSW and other outside-the-walls locales
January 22nd, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Tara – go meet Rags Srinivas – he’s just starting at Intuit as well (in the same org.). He’s one of the world’s best technology evangelists – helped build the Java ecosystem from nothing to ~6M developers.
He’s a great guy…
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Hi Matt,
Rags is sitting next to me right now – we were going to announce him joining IPP as our Technology Evangelist next week. He is fantastic and another fabulous addition to the team –
Thanks for calling him out!
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:03 pm
Welcome to the team! We can’t wait for you to get started.
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Good luck Tara! I have no doubts you will rock it!
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Congrats Tara! Remarkable to see all your successes and projects since i first met you and the aforementioned Alex Barnett at Mindcamp 1.0 in Seattle years ago.
Holla to Saskatoon!
PS I’ve also moved on from happyfrog.ca to Raincity Studios and now to Movieset.com
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:27 pm
That’s great news Tara, congrats. And this:
>I, personally, could use a little
>schoolin’ on corporate America
…is smart, self aware, brave, hell even inspirational.
Congrats again. Tobias
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:32 pm
This is great news indeed! Congrats on the new position and I’m sure you’ll do one amazing job. We may actually come in contact while you’re at this position as my consulting company integrates tools like Salesforce and Google Apps with things just like Quickbooks using the partner platform.
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Thank you sooooo much to all of you! DaveO…love that you have evidence of Mr. Barnett and my early co-geeking!
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:37 pm
This is great news Tara, good for you, this sounds like a really interesting project and you are going to bring such a valuable perspective. You are right that working for a big company will be an enormous education. I’ve only been at Nokia a couple of years but i’ve learned an enormous amount about corporations, their needs, their strengths, and their weaknesses. When you eventually leave Intuit you will have so many more experiences to draw on when consulting with big companies especially with all the wonderful success stories from Intuit.
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:38 pm
Congratulations, Tara! What exciting news for you and a massive win for Intuit to have you on board to take the company forward! Sounds like a fantastic opportunity all around! Have a blast following your passion in a new space! I’m so thrilled for you!!!!
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:48 pm
More great news, Tara. I look forward to learning more about IPP. I’ve got a bunch of startups and freelancers around here looking for new opportunities. Keep on, yer awesome.
–Ax
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:51 pm
I’ll join in your contrarianism and agree: massive corporations are where the [disruptive] action is.
Have fun and report back often!
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Wow, that’s huge, Tara! I just had a conversation with a senior exec at Intuit recently who hinted at some of their opportunities related to their data and platforms. With that in mind, I think this is a potentially awesome fit. Good luck!
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Congrats, Tara! It’s time that a big company got to be subverted by you. (For its own benefit of course.)
In place of acronyms will we start seeing names like Whuffintuit?
January 22nd, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Congratulations Tara. And I completely agree, 2009 is going to be a huge year for small business. Intuit has had an eye on this for a while (http://about.intuit.com/futureofsmallbusiness/). It’s possible to be small, but to have a large/long reach. Good luck.
January 22nd, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Tara, congrats on this great move. Intuit is incredibly lucky to have you.
January 22nd, 2009 at 5:33 pm
congrats, congrats, congrats on BOTH big announcements today. so glad you’re not losing your indie roots — i.e. we’ll still get to see you around citizen space!
good luck and go rock it.
January 22nd, 2009 at 9:30 pm
W00t! Congratulations on the new job. It sounds like you’ve got some interesting and challenging work ahead of you.
I hope that it’s something you can really get into.
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:52 am
Congrats Baby Spice! Sounds perfect for you! I wish you every success!
January 23rd, 2009 at 6:50 am
I’ve been excited about IPP (I work at Intuit, in the innovation lab) but wow, now I’m really excited
January 23rd, 2009 at 7:17 am
Tara .. Both these announcements are really exciting and I am really pleased for you. Congratulations – onward and upward!
Colin
January 23rd, 2009 at 8:52 am
Congratulations, Tara. I think you’ll find the bigco environment quite interesting. Frustrating at times, for sure, but worth experiencing, if only to better relate to how many people still do their work.
I know going back and forth between “rogue”-ish freelancing and having-a-job-with-benefits has been the primary cycle in my adult life, which has been nice every time one of those extremes or the other has begun to feel constraining or played out.
See you in the valley!
January 23rd, 2009 at 11:21 pm
What a great collaboration – and I love that you’re doing this for Intuit. A fine organization and I love Quicken.
Great news – and congratulations, Tara – well done!
January 25th, 2009 at 7:33 am
Huzzah! Congrats on the new job – Intuit is a fab company and they’re lucky to have you!
January 25th, 2009 at 10:32 pm
Congratulations Tara! Looking forward to updates!
January 29th, 2009 at 2:07 am
Congrats! And I loved the post title. : )