Opinion
Google's culture lacks resilience because it never faced a survival crisis
“And the culture they created was one that was born out of abundance. And the abundance has not stopped. It started and it continued. It was always up and to the right. They've never had a near-death moment.”
Assertion Supported
Fadell built a secret Windows iPod project despite Steve Jobs' opposition
“And we actually had, I'd bring it up and Steve was like, over my dead body. And so I still created a skunkworks program in the back.”
Insight
Disruptive version-one hardware products require gut intuition over consumer data
“You have to trust your gut. For V ones. For the disrupt, first disruption for the version one. Many, many opinion-based decisions.”
Opinion
The first-generation Apple iPhone functioned terribly as an actual telephone
“The iPhone was the greatest thing except for a phone, right? Cause the phone really sucked. Cause we were learning, right? By figuring out what to do with how to make good cameras even.”
Opinion
Replacing petroleum with hydrogen yields higher profits for materials companies
“You could actually make higher profits if you use hydrogen instead of using the petro driven stuff that we do today. You can make a better company, better product.”
Assertion Contradicted
Menlo Micro switches can cut Indian ceiling fan power consumption by half
“So with this one switch that's, you know, very cheap, you can actually now cut that by 50%. Wow. So you're now only consuming three to four percent of that electricity in that country for these ceiling fans without any change in the product, any change in comf…”
Opinion
The 2022 market downturn is heavily concentrated in private markets
“Some of it's in the public markets. Most of it's in the private markets. Back in 2000, it was almost all public markets and not necessarily private.”
Insight
Writing pre-launch mock press releases best establishes essential product constraints
“Everything is better when it has constraints. So you money, time, number of people, and the technology you're going for. But the best way to do the constraints, what I do, and this is all the story of why, and the, and you have to have a story for it, is to wr…”
Insight
Truly necessary hardware products create an incredible barrier to competitor entry
“Really you have to go back to first principles and go, why are you doing this? And is this absolutely necessary because the friction is so high? But if it is absolutely necessary, that is an incredible barrier to entry. And it really can set you apart because …”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Andy Rubin pitched Android to Apple before selling it to Google
“I got a couple of calls from Andy Rubin at the time, who I worked with at General Magic, working on Android before Android was bought by Google. And so that was really like, Steve, we should listen to this.”
Disclosure
Fadell's investment firm Future Shape prefers backing startups with two co-founders
“And that's the kind of companies we love to invest in when they really have a co-founder, not too many. No, no more than three, hopefully just two. It's hard when it's only one, but having that, those co-founders that can work together when one's up, pull the …”
Opinion
General Magic attempted to build the iPhone 15 years too early
“I think what happened was in general magic was, you know, trying to make, you know, when you look back on it, the iPhone, 15 years too early.”
Assertion Contradicted
Philips Velo and Nino were the first devices to support Audible
“And at Philips, I was doing the Philips Velo and Philips Nino. We were the first devices to Ever have audible on them.”
Assertion Open · timeframe May 2022
Apple had under one percent US market share when Fadell joined
“Yeah, it was much smaller, and it had a market share of one percent or less, only in the US. It didn't have retail stores, it only had the Mac. There was really nothing else that Apple had at that time.”
Assertion Open · timeframe May 2022
Apple's iPod held 85 percent market share when phones added music
“We were at 85% market share at the time, and the market kept growing and growing and growing.”
Assertion Supported
Indian residential ceiling fans consume up to eight percent of national electricity
“In India, six to eight percent of all electricity produced is consumed by home ceiling fans. Just ceiling fans. Wow. Six to eight percent depending on the season.”
Tony Fadell