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How would an eager startup person get funded to build something that competes with TurboTax? How will you bring novel value to the industry at this point? A mo
by nucleogenesis 6y ago
How would an eager startup person get funded to build something that competes with TurboTax? How will you bring novel value to the industry at this point?
A monopolized industry is also intentionally difficult to enter. It’s not just about buying existing competitors it’s about also making it as hard as possible to enter.
So even when some startup manages to get funding and deploy a viable product, they’re immediately on the radar for acquisition for monopolists if they weren’t before going to production.
TurboTax has also lobbied to affect US law in their favor. They’re a scumbag organization who makes an excellent product.
- cratermoon 6y agoIt's an OK product. The interesting thing about TurboTax lobbying is that they oppose most attempts to simplify the law because the value of their product is for people who have tax situations that are too complex for an individual but not complex enough to make hiring a full-time tax accountant worthwhile.
- savanaly 6y agoI just don't understand why a guaranteed payday if you're even modestly successful doesn't draw competition like flies. I would think that once you're known to be willing to pay a bribe to someone who threatens you even a little you would be bankrupted in short time.
- cratermoon 6y agoIntuit doesn't exactly buyout direct competitors, they buy companies that try to move into niches that Intuit doesn't cover. If you tried to compete directly, they wouldn't spend money and time buying you out, they'd put their resources into other ways of bumping you out of the market. Lawsuits over patents are a good one, and Intuit as around 1600 patents.