My Life @ Intuit - Tad

Tad

Position: Product manager, Intuit Brainstorm | Product marketing RDP 2006 alum
Hometown: Green Bay, WI
School: University of Wisconsin, Madison
Major: Management

Why did you choose Intuit?
At first, I just wanted to work somewhere out in California.  But once I interviewed at Intuit and saw how friendly, intelligent and professional everyone was, I knew this was the place for me.  I’m passionate about small businesses.  I love the idea of helping small business owners quickly get back to doing what they love instead of worrying about accounting or hiring or any of the dozens of other tasks they have to do.  Intuit is full of people who feel the same way.

What has been your favorite RDP experience?
My favorite RDP experience has been helping the product Intuit Brainstorm come to life.  Brainstorm was an idea started by four RDPers and an engineer we met while in the program.  The five of us developed this concept to use web-based collaboration to help employees move ideas forward, and we started to shop it around the company.  It got some serious interest.  Before we knew it, we had built a working prototype and it was being used across the company – all the way up to our founder, Scott Cook.  Now, it’s the cornerstone of our innovation program inside Intuit.  And it’s getting results.  Check out intuitlabs.com to see our latest innovations.  Most of these were touched in one way or another by Brainstorm.

How have you made an impact at Intuit?
RDP has put me in a position to have an impact on many areas of Intuit.  On day one of my first rotation, I was tasked with researching web site providers for small businesses.  That work became part of the project that eventually led to Intuit’s acquisition of Homestead Technologies.  In later rotations, I had the opportunity to manage a partnership that helped small businesses use email marketing, develop our strategy for using Twitter and Facebook to reach small businesses, and create a new way of managing innovative ideas across the company.

What makes you excited to come to work every day?
I get to do what I love.  What’s not to be excited about?

How does Intuit allow you to be innovative?
As an Intuit employee, I get 10%t of my time to come up with new ideas and innovation.  Not many companies do that, but they should.  I was fortunate enough to take one of those 10%-time ideas, push it forward, and make it 100% of my job.

Tell us about your interests outside of work.
I like running, hiking, playing video games and reading.  I come from a family of teachers and journalists, so I think I’m genetically predisposed to be interested in education and politics as well.

What makes Intuit a great place to work?
Can I get away with saying the ping pong table?  It’s a little cliché, but the people make the company.  The people here are smart and professional.  My managers have always had a wealth of experience for me to draw upon.  That’s helped me to develop professionally and, more importantly, to have fun at work.  I’m constantly surrounded by people I can have a conversation with about a wide variety of topics.  And, with our move to being a more web-based, connected services company, it’s an exciting time to be here.

P.S.  There’s a ping pong table.

What skills did you acquire throughout your two years that will make you successful in your career?
The ability to question.  When people talk or put forth a point of view, it’s like the tip of the iceberg.  What’s actually motivating that comment or opinion is under the surface, and I feel like it’s my job to uncover it.  If a customer says that he doesn’t like a new sign-up form, then I’ll ask “can you tell me more?” or “what would be good about that?” The temptation is to react instantly to what the customer says and do exactly that.  But, many times, when you probe a little deeper, you’ll get to a result that’s much more useful. Intuit taught me how to do that.

Learn more: Product marketing rotational development program (RDP)