Intuit's $12 billion Mailchimp acquisition gets called a mistake constantly.

And honestly? The criticism is fair.

But not for the reason most people think.

The problem isn't that AI will replace email marketing. It won't. Email remains one of the highest-ROI channels for small businesses.

The problem is simpler: Intuit is raising prices too aggressively to justify the purchase price.

And in doing so, they're pushing potential future customers to competitors before those customers ever become Mailchimp users.

The biggest risk to Mailchimp isn't technology.

It's corporate finance.

The irony is painful: the growth Intuit paid $12B to acquire is being undermined by the very strategy meant to justify the acquisition.