Solutions

To develop into a major multi-million dollar company that we all envision, Autodesk needs additional management skills. I have prepared a proposed corporate structure and preliminary job descriptions for five key individuals that I feel will address the problems stated above. Most of these positions are already filled with qualified individuals; for other positions there are individuals within Autodesk who are qualified; and there is probably at least one position that will have to be filled by someone outside Autodesk. This structure may seem like a big unnecessary leap from our current structure to some of you. I agree, but I cannot imagine how we will get the job of running this company done without it. Each and every one of these positions is essential. Judging by the response to the previous proposals, I expect the only objections to my proposal to be to the two new positions (CEO and Finance & Administration). Consequently, I will discuss only those positions but briefly. First, the CEO position is needed primarily to offload John and Dan. With the structure that I have proposed with the CEO reporting to the board, John and Dan will continue their leadership role in the company but be freed of the daily trivia. His primary tasks would be to promote our company philosophies, improve our company communications, and offload John and Dan by handling the daily running of the company. The Finance & Administration position is equally important since his primary tasks would be to get the administrative parts of the company going (accounting, budgeting, policies, etc.), and more importantly to prepare our business plan and financing. These are essential if we are going to get venture capital or go public and sell stock (the only way we are going to become millionaires). Although, the F&A job may not be critical today, I strongly recommend that we find someone now so that he will be thoroughly familiar with the company when his services are critical.