The Autodesk File
The Autodesk File by John Walkerby John Walker
Shares rank 17 of 25 memoirs by recommenders
Recommended as an interesting read on Autodesk's early years, and not the usual founder-genius startup memoir.
Recommended as an interesting read on Autodesk's early years, and not the usual founder-genius startup memoir.
3 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 3
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 3 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Not the usual founder-genius memoir
“it's not the usual “just so” kind of startup memoir that tries to explain how success was preordained by the founder’s genius”
Comment from 2 Nov 2025 on Hacker News “an interesting read because it’s not the usual “just so” kind of startup memoir”
Comment from 2 Nov 2025 on Hacker News Interesting account of early Autodesk years
“an interesting read because it’s not the usual “just so” kind of startup memoir”
Comment from 2 Nov 2025 on Hacker News “wrote/edited and interesting book on the early years”
Comment from 31 Mar 2026 in “Open source CAD in the browser (Solvespace)”
Other memoirs people recommend
The four most recommended other memoirs, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Careless Peopleby Sarah Wynn-Williams | 106 | 24 | 82% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Man's Search for Meaningby Viktor Frankl | 13 | 2 | 87% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!by Richard Feynman | 11 | 7 | 61% | 6 | — | — |
| Down and Out in Paris and Londonby George Orwell | 9 | 1 | 90% | 8 | — | — |
| The Autodesk Fileby John WalkerThis page | 3 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
All 3 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“wrote/edited and interesting book on the early years”
“an interesting read because it’s not the usual “just so” kind of startup memoir”
“it's not the usual “just so” kind of startup memoir that tries to explain how success was preordained by the founder’s genius”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.