“In the late 1990s a young entrepreneur named Tony Fadell tried to persuade Stewart Alsop, a journalist who had recently become a venture capitalist, to invest in his startup, Fuse Systems. Fadell had done a stint at the pioneering mobile-software company General Magic and then created a division within Philips to make handheld devices,” Adam Lashinsky reports for Fortune. “Neither General Magic nor the Philips pocket computers amounted to much. But Fadell intended to leverage his experience with a new venture. His pitch was not subtle. Says Alsop: ‘He essentially said, ‘I’m the guy who knows more about mobile products than anyone else. Give me money.’’ Alsop declined.”
“An entire decade passed before Fadell asked VCs for cash again. But what a decade it was. Fadell abandoned Fuse Systems and joined Apple to lead the team that created the iPod. That singular achievement–the iPod rejuvenated Apple and reordered the music industry–transformed him from a struggling startup guy to an accomplished executive who’d withstood the sound and fury of Steve Jobs,” Lashinsky reports. “Fadell became known around Silicon Valley as the mercurial ‘godfather’ of the iPod, and he added another dazzling line to his résumé by assisting in the development of the iPhone. When he stepped down from Apple’s management team in 2008, there was much speculation about his next move.”
“Jobs and Fadell had a relationship that alternated between the father/son and school principal/naughty student archetypes. ‘He thought I asked too many questions,’ says Fadell. ‘I would just keep asking, ‘Well, what about that? What about that?’ And he’d say, ‘Enough already.’ It would frustrate him. But then he’d ask me a ton of questions, and he could frustrate me, and I’d be like, ‘Steve, leave me alone,”” Lashinsky reports. “If there’s one thing that gnaws at Fadell, it’s that he never got to tell Jobs about Nest. The two had corresponded, with Jobs checking in to express interest in Fadell’s stealthy startup, which, Fadell had told him, had an energy-conservation aspect to it. (A key selling point to the original Nest device is that it saves electricity by knowing when its owners don’t need it.) By the time Fadell was ready to share more in the summer of 2011, however, Jobs had grown gravely ill, and he died several weeks later. ‘I would have loved to have been able to show it to him, but the timing didn’t work,’ he says. Jobs presumably would have been proud of Fadell. And he almost certainly would have asked a lot of questions.”
Tons more in the full article here.
[Attribution: MacRumors. Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Lynn Weiler” for the heads up.]
But instead he sold the company to Google ….
Tony, when you sold out to Google, we stopped listening to you.
I think he is trying to say he regrets selling out. But unfortunately you can’t turn back time.
Yeah, and I am sure Steve Jobs would have laughed when he heard that they were ALL recalled.
Weren’t they recalled because Google wanted to replace them with models that would push advertisements into the home?!
The smoke/CO detectors were recalled because, under certain circumstances, they would shut off during a fire.
To the point about pushing ads, I think that the role of Nest products is not to actively push ads. Rather, for Google, it is a listening device that transmits data about your home back to the hive. In addition, and to goog’s delight I imagine, it also has your wifi password.
The Nest smoke detectors had a feature that allowed you to wave your hand beneath it when it went off to silence it, so you didn’t have to suffer through the shrieking while you got a pole or ladder to push some button.
The defect was in software that accidentally shut off the alarm sensor by simply waving/moving around beneath the sensor when it wasn’t shrieking from an alarm. There was no way to tell that you’d accidentally disabled the alarm sensor.
They recalled the devices to fix the software. It wasn’t clear why they couldn’t simply push a software fix over the air to resolve the issue. I guess the bad PR forced them into the recall.
I actually had a couple on order, but cancelled the order before the problem surfaced. They seem like a cool product, but I’m not sure I trust Google to not abuse their ownership to start gathering info about my moving around the house, so I don’t expect to reorder.
Isn’t ‘hive’ a competing device/infrastructure that in this country at least Apple sells in its Apple stores. Sure Apple would love to receive that information.
We all would have loved that, too. But then you sold it to Google. Now we’re checking what offerings Honeywell and others are serving up instead.
You know, I’ll bet it never occurred to Tony that his sale to Google would drive a certain segment of his potential market to Honeywell. Too bad. I think he will someday wish he had made some other decision. He was seduced by money and words, but Google has no heart.
No, he got paid. He’s happy.
I agree. He got his billion. What’s not to like from his perspective?
Come on, the guy worked at
Apple for years. I imagine that he had some idea of how the company’s fans would react to the sale. We tend to be a passionate group.
He betrayed Steve’s memory by selling to Google. And for the same amount Apple buys Beat. When Nest really belongs to Apple DNA. I never seen a product outside Apple so well crafted. Unfortunately Google tasteless sense will kill this beautiful product. Well done traitor Tony, you couldn’t resist a quick buck now for big bucks tomorrow. No Steve would not be proud of you. Your last action erased all previous ones.
Besides, whole “father” or “godfather” thing about iPod is really tired and annoying thing. Fadell thinks he is father, but Rubinstein also thinks he is father. In reality, Jobs is father: it was his idea in the first place. Whoever Jobs chose to implement is important, no one can take the credit away from Fadell and Rubinstein for that, but it is secondary.
If he took VC money to fund Next, he had no choice but to sell. VC funds have a term. When your fund closes, you either find a buyer or the VC finds one for you. (Or you can open a new round and get further diluted but only if the VCs will allow it.)
If Apple turned Fadell down, he had to find another buyer. Don’t slam the guy for selling to Google. You would have done it too.
On the other hand, I’ll buy a Honeywell too. My house is Google-free.
NO I wouldn’t have done it too.
Selling to google is like doing a deal with the devil.
IPO was another exit route with possible even bigger pay off
All everyone needs to know is fadell sold out – to Apple’s arch enemy.
Just as well steve jobs isn’t alive – fadell did the worst thing he could have done.
Fuck you fadell, enjoy your cash.
I for one will lug hand smile when Apple’s home kit makes Nest products unusable and alll nests competitors products connect to everything seamlessly around the home.
Tony, Steve would be ashamed of you. You turned your back on the man and the company that created you.
You’ll regret your sell out for the rest of your life and on your death bed.
And not one person from apple will be at your funeral.
I bought a 8 of their devices. Many failed or worked poorly, and the rest I threw out. I had high hopes but the Google sale and product defects pushed me to abandon them all together.
Looking forward to trying Honeywell.
I had the same wonky experience with the Protect (the smoke/CO detector) and returned six of them. To Nest’s credit they gave me a full refund, and this was before the official recall. Looking forward to seeing what Honeywell and others do.
Whew, I almost bought a Nest! Researched them, checked my ac unit for compatibility, then, just in time – google! No. I loathe google and avoid anything they’re involved with if I can. startpage.com, duckduckgo, etc for search. If Apple does make a good thermostat, I’ll buy.
Exactly my story.
Mine as well. Waiting for a HVAC tech to show up Tuesday to install the main Honeywell thermostat. I have two wifi remote thermostats and now for the big one. I didn’t go with the Lyric but I’m okay with that.
Did anyone else notice how Nest was snubbed during the home kit announcement?
Yep, and I smiled :)))
I thought that was a teal Easter egg of sticking two fingers up at google 🙂
Did he ever pitch this to Apple?
Don’t think so.
I think that’s what pissed apple off more.
Apple wouldn’t have bought nest anyway as apple could design better looking hardware.
Tony had to know Apple was moving into the area of home automation.
He sold Google a worthless company and got them to spend big bucks for something that Apple would make obsolete. Tony you did well. You are wealthy and Google ends up with nothing. Steve would be amused.
I just love it how google is buying anything to pretend and give over the impression that it’s an innovative company with loads of ideas.
Anyone can buy a company and pretend that they invented the tech.
You look at everything google is doing it’s all pre-invented stuff that they haven’t come up with the idea developed by the companies they bought.
The robotics company, nest, the ai company, the satellite company – all stuff worked on before they bought the companies.
Google is the tech equivalent of a pre-cool ready meal.
It takes 10yrs plus to come up with some of this stuff.
And this is ‘innovation’. Certainly not my definition of the word.
“HEY LOOK OVER HERE! I’M REALLY THE NEXT STEVE JOBS!”
… NEXT…………