Company Overview AutoSTAGE is a German company that builds planning solutions for the event industry. The company offers customized software tools for creating professional CAD plans, engineering designs, and visual images for fair, exhibition, theatre and live entertain- ment production. The inspiration for AutoSTAGE came from simple AutoCAD plugins Founder Jens Mueller used almost 15 years ago during a lighting internship in Los Angeles while pursuing his media engineering degree. Though the plugins were only a collection of blocks built for the US industry, Mueller wondered if a more robust solution could work for the German market. The idea resurfaced a short time later when clients started asking him for professional planning services for their events. He realized there was an unmet need in the industry for planning software targeting engineers and technical planners. He seized the opportunity to turn his lighting and events expertise towards creating AutoSTAGE. The Challenge Mueller focused his initial development efforts on building a powerful AutoCAD design plugin. While his customers and smaller events companies were eager to try his solution, he often found they could not afford the AutoCAD license required to use it. It was a product challenge that threatened to stall the company’s growth. At the same time, larger competitors were beginning to enter the event planning market and the first ver- sion of AutoSTAGE was rapidly approaching obsolescence. Muel- ler had to move fast to address accessibility and affordability if AutoSTAGE was going to survive. Business Profile Product Using TS3D Components: AutoSTAGE Industry Focus: Planning Software for the Event Industry Company Website: www.autostage.de About Tech Soft 3D Tech Soft 3D is the leading global B2D provider of engineering solutions that help software teams deliver successful applications. Established in 1996 and headquartered in Bend, Oregon, Tech Soft 3D has offices in California, France, England and Japan. The company’s product portfolio powers nearly 500 applications globally and includes the HOOPS suite of software tools, 3D PDF solutions and Autodesk OEM products. “The competition we face is very fierce. We have some really big competition in Germany, and it’s basically just me and some students up against a company with 120 employees. It is a David and Goliath competition, but we are competing.” - Jens Mueller, Founder & CEO Customer Story: AutoSTAGE “I found out pretty quickly that AutoCAD OEM enabled me to get more customers, to build something that is very easy to implement from the development stage, and to capture a new audience.” - Jens Mueller, Founder & CEO