Artifact Details

Title

AutoDesk oral history panel

Catalog Number

102792114

Type

Document

Description

In this October 2020 oral history panel moderated by Charles (Chuck) House, four Autodesk founders, Dan Drake, David Kalish, Duff Kurland, and Greg Lutz, discuss the years before and after the founding of the Company. The four founders describe their education and early careers before coming together to help form Autodesk in the early 1980s. They were part of a team of 16 (or was it 17) founders, including the company’s thought leader and first CEO, John Walker. The panel describes how nearly all the founders came to work at ISD [Information Systems Design] in Silicon Valley, the circumstances that led them to leave ISD and form Autodesk, and the early development of AutoCAD. The discussions cover Autodesk’s first visit to Comdex in 1982 and the company growth that followed. The Autodesk founders also explain the company’s management style, various leadership changes, IPO, early legal challenges, and initial product development decisions.

Date

2020-10-15

Contributor

Baltes, Cheryl, Editor
Drake, Dan, Interviewee
Grad, Burt, Interviewer
House, Chuck, Interviewer
Kalish, David, Interviewee
Kurland, Duff, Interviewee
Lutz, Greg, Interviewee

Publisher

Computer History Museum

Extent

51 p.

Format

PDF

Category

Transcription

Subject

Green, Al; Architectural software; AutoCAD; Autodesk; Autoscreen; Comdex; Information Systems Design; Walker, John; Marcelius, Keith; Marinchip; Ford, Mike; Office computing; personal computing; UNIVAC; Software rights; VersaCAD

Collection Title

CHM Oral History Collection

Credit

Computer History Museum

Lot Number

X9368.2021