Companies and individuals will form a shareholder consortium with the goal of acquiring 10-15% collective ownership of Autodesk stock, then exercise governance rights over the direction of the company, (and its products), so that PAYING CUSTOMERS benefit from ACTUAL improvements to the software.
This effort will likely take at least two years, but the sooner we start, the sooner we can begin to more strongly influence how Autodesk develops their software.
Also, this effort may negatively impact the price of ADSK shares, but in return, the paying customers (businesses) will start saving time while using the software, which will provide measurable cost savings in perpetuity for all businesses that use Autodesk's software.
This effort might be characterized as 'shareholder activism', but it's really 'paying customer activism' - and it's long overdue. Over decades, lack of meaningful improvement in Autodesk products has cost our industries millions in unrecoverable dollars.
Shareholders may have benefited, but too often at the expense of paying customers. We ask for improvements that never materialize, while software costs remain the same or increase. This is not good corporate citizenship.
As dissatisfied customers, we have the ability to effect real change. Autodesk is publicly traded - anyone can buy shares. Working together as companies and individuals to regularly purchase shares, we could position ourselves within 2-3 years to influence software development direction.
In 2021, Engine No. 1 successfully won 3 board seats at ExxonMobil with only 0.02% ownership stake through coordinated shareholder campaign and proxy voting. They forced operational changes at a $300+ billion company by building coalition support among institutional investors.
Other successful campaigns: Trian Fund won board seat at Procter & Gamble with 1.5% stake (2017). Pershing Square achieved management overhaul at Canadian Pacific with 14% ownership (2012). Coordinated shareholder action works when investors align around clear operational goals.
At 10-15% collective ownership, we would have 500-750x more influence than Engine No. 1 had. This provides actual voting power to file shareholder proposals, nominate board candidates, and force management accountability.
This is entirely flexible, and suggestions are welcome, but here is a starting point:
- Minimum: $10,000 (any firm using Autodesk products)
- Scaled: $10K-$5M, based on annual Autodesk spend
- Monthly option: $280-$14,000/month over 36-month commitment
- Structure: Delaware LLC with coordinated purchases
- Eventually, software improvements are reviewed & voted on annually, then the top 5 improvemnts are ACTUALLY IMPLEMENTED! The very next year!
Timeline:
- Months 1-6: Form consortium, enroll 100+ founding firms
- Months 7-18: Expand to 500-1,000 firms, achieve 3-5% ownership
- Months 19-36: File shareholder proposals, negotiate with board or nominate opposition directors, target 10-15% ownership
Conservative ROI:
Even 5% productivity improvement = $5,000-$100,000+ annual savings per firm, payback within 2-5 years from operations alone.
This may not work.
Autodesk may ignore us, implement defenses, or launch counteroffensives.
But the alternative is accepting another 20 years of declining productivity and rising costs.
Traditional feedback channels have failed. Open letters have been ignored. Customer complaints are dismissed. We have one remaining option: ownership.
If you're interested in participating as a founding member, contact us at contact@aecperformancealliance.org
The sooner we start, the sooner meaningful change becomes possible.
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