Intuit is killing its Slideshare competitor Docstoc on December 1

Document-sharing service Docstoc is shutting its doors on December 1. The company advises users to download their public and private documents before then.

When reached for comment, Docstoc replied that the shutdown is a result of Intuit’s decision “to discontinue these products.” Additionally, the team plans “to support our existing customers, but will not be able to allow any new registrations or subscriptions.”

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In December 2013, the company was acquired by Intuit for a price reported to be upwards of $50 million. It was started by Jason Nazar and Alon Schwartz in 2007 as a place for people to find and manage all the documents associated with their professional life and small business. It raised $4 million in investment capital from the likes of Rustic Canyon Partners, Crosscut Ventures, and other angel investors.

The company wasn’t the only one in its space; it faced stiff competition from the likes of Scribd and Slideshare, the latter of which was picked up by LinkedIn for $119 million in cash and stock.

In 2012, the company launched License123, a service that helped small businesses navigate the process of getting the proper licenses and permits to start a company anywhere in the United States. Originally it was a research service, but evolved to be a database housing “Doing Business As” (DBA) forms and information. It does not appear that License123 will be shutting down at this time.

https://twitter.com/nichcarlson/status/639516824342761472

News of Docstoc’s closure comes on the heels of Intuit’s announcement last month of its plans to divest its Quicken, Quickbase, and Demandforce businesses. On the analyst call, chief executive Brad Smith said, “As you know, Quicken is a desktop-centric business that does not strengthen the small business or tax ecosystem. Our strategy is focused on building ecosystems and platforms in the cloud.”

It could be that this same logic is being applied to Docstoc — did it really benefit Intuit’s users?