Tailoring Products for Different Consumer Groups, Lecture by Carol Bartz / Autodesk (2006)

Course Description

In this lecture, Carol Bartz talks on the Entrepreneurial Thought Leader Speaker Series for Stanford University students, on March 1st, 2006. Carol Bartz, chairman of the board, president and CEO of Autodesk, talks about the need to speak with customers to tailor a standard product for different customer groups. She uses the example of AutoCad and the way it has been tailored to specific customers to meet their requirements. She also says that the best way to make a product a standard is to get it to volume.

Carol Bartz is executive chairman of the board of Autodesk, Inc. Bartz was chairman, president and CEO of Autodesk for 14 years and stepped-down in April, 2006. During her tenure, the company diversified its product line and grew revenues from $285 million to $1.523 billion in FY06.



Bartz previously held positions at Sun Microsystems, 11 years ago serving as vice president of worldwide field operations and an executive officer of the company. Before joining Sun, she held product line and sales management positions at Digital Equipment Corporation and 3M Corporation.



Appointed to President Bush's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, Bartz is one of a select group of industry leaders expected to play a key role in shaping and setting the government's high tech agenda-ranging from R&D funding to new broadband incentives. She also serves on the Board of Directors of BEA Systems, Cisco Systems, Network Appliance, and the Foundation for the National Medals of Science and Technology.



Bartz holds an honors degree in computer science from the University of Wisconsin. She was granted an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from William Woods University.



Related Links: usa.autodesk.com



Course Details:

- Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Lecture

- Stanford University's Entrepreneurship Corner (ecorner)



Original Course Name: Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Lecture.