S5E52 Jon Hirschtick | Founding & Developing the Solidworks and Onshape CAD Systems

Being an Engineer

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This episode is a re-run.

In this episode, we have the founder of Solidworks and, more recently, Onshape, Jon Hirschtick, a legend in the CAD industry. In our conversation, you’ll hear about how Solidworks was started, how it grew, and how it led to Jon’s decision to found Onshape. Listeners will also learn how Onshape makes CAD design faster and more collaborative through its suite of innovative features and native cloud platform.

Main Topics:

Jon Hirschtick's path to becoming an engineer
The founding and early days of SolidWorks
Technical challenges in developing SolidWorks
User feedback and the impact of SolidWorks
The inspiration and vision behind Onshape
Unique features and benefits of Onshape
Transitioning from SolidWorks to Onshape
Onshape's pricing and market position
Future developments and innovations in Onshape
Advice for engineer entrepreneurs

About the guest: Jon is Chief Evangelist at PTC, where he focuses on Onshape, the world's first and only cloud native CAD and PDM system which includes rendering, collaboration, workflow, analytics, and many other tools. Jon is also the former General Manager as well as the Co-founder and former CEO of Onshape.

Prior to Onshape, in 1993, Jon founded SolidWorks and served as CEO, Group Executive and Board Member until 2011 watching SolidWorks grow to 2 million users and over $500 million / year in revenue.

Links:
Jon Hirschtick - LinkedIn
PTC website

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About Being An Engineer

The Being An Engineer podcast is a repository for industry knowledge and a tool through which engineers learn about and connect with relevant companies, technologies, people resources, and opportunities. We feature successful mechanical engineers and interview engineers who are passionate about their work and who made a great impact on the engineering community.

The Being An Engineer podcast is brought to you by Pipeline Design & Engineering. Pipeline partners with medical & other device engineering teams who need turnkey equipment such as cycle test machines, custom test fixtures, automation equipment, assembly jigs, inspection stations and more. You can find us on the web at www.teampipeline.us

Chapters

1. S5E52 Jon Hirschtick | Founding & Developing the Solidworks and Onshape CAD Systems (00:00:00)

2. Journey to Becoming an Engineer (00:00:01)

3. The Founding of SolidWorks (00:03:53)

4. Technical Challenges in Developing SolidWorks (00:09:02)

5. User Feedback and Market Impact (00:24:54)

6. The Birth of Onshape (00:25:53)

7. Onshape's Unique Features and Benefits (00:31:42)

8. Transitioning to Onshape (00:37:46)

9. Onshape's Pricing and Market Position (00:46:54)

10. Future Developments and Innovations (00:54:09)

11. Advice for Engineer Entrepreneurs (01:09:20)

12. Jon Hirschtick on the Importance of Persistence and Learning from Failures (01:09:55)

13. Jon Hirschtick's Sources of Joy and Frustration (01:12:54)

14. Connecting with Jon Hirschtick and Closing Remarks (01:13:47)

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