Tony Fadell: Why You Can't Be a Solo Founder; Mercenary vs. Missionary Operators | 20VC #910

Tony Fadell, often referred to as the father of the iPod is one of the leading product thinkers of the last 30 years as one of the makers of some of the most revolutionary products in society from the iPhone and iPod to more recently founding Nest, creating the Nest Thermostat, leading to their $3.2BN acquisition by Google. Tony recently released Build, a masterclass taking 30 years of product and company building lessons and packaging them for you, check it out here. ---------------------------------------------- Timestamps: 0:00 What would you have changed from your childhood? 2:38 How did your childhood impact your parenting style? 3:52 How to teach your kids adaptability 4:32 Is "helicopter parenting" breeding a generation of a-hole kids? 6:46 Did you always know you'd be successful? 8:03 Was there ever a moment when you felt your career was plateauing? 9:24 How to create your own role within a company 12:03 Most difficult, but valuable lesson you've ever learned? 13:03 Why do you feel responsible for the failure of General Magic? 14:23 Mercenary vs. Missionary Operators 15:58 How the best leaders inspire ownership and accountability 19:06 Should a company be a team or a family? 22:29 Where were you best/worst as a CEO? 24:37 Loneliness as a sole founder 27:03 Pairing heavy-technical with heavy-sales founders always a win? 27:42 Tony's willingness to be called crazy 32:03 How to know if you're crazy smart or just crazy? 33:45 How do you decide what to read? 35:57 How to detach happiness from milestones 37:08 Tony's portfolio construction 37:50 What risks have you taken that you wouldn't have if you didn't have money? 39:03 How to start a family without losing your edge 40:56 Have business gone soft with the 4-day work week? 45:30 In five years will we be working in the office again? Or hybrid? 45:44 Advice for investors seeing their first downturn 47:45 Economic downturn's effect on in climate investment 52:59 Who is your dream dinner guest? 53:17 Your house is on fire. What do you save first? 53:32 Why don't you drink caffeine? 53:41 Best purchase you've made recently under $500? 53:53 In five years, how do you want people to view your book, Build? ---------------------------------------------- In Today’s Episode with Tony Fadell: New York Times’ 36 Questions of Love 1.) On reflection, what would Tony most like to change about his childhood? How did moving so much as a child change who Tony was as a person? How can parents instill that same grit and desire in their kids today? What does Tony think is the biggest problem with modern parenting? 2.) As a leader, should the company you are building be a family or a team? What does Tony believe are the 3 hats of being a great CEO? What is the biggest challenge in the transition between hats? Where does Tony see many founders make the biggest mistake? Which hat was Tony strongest with? What was he weakest with? 3.) How to solve the loneliness of being a solo founder? Why does Tony believe that everyone needs a co-founder? Why does Tony not like to invest in teams with a solo founder or more than 4 founders? For Tony, what is the ideal composition of that founding team? How does he test for these skills and traits pre-investing? 4.) How to think differently in the face of adversity? Tony has made bold bets when everyone says he is crazy, how does he not question himself and remain strong in the face of criticism? How does Tony know when to change his mind? When to accept that the bold idea was not right? Is Tony concerned in the face of macro challenges today, investment and commitment to climate change will be cut heavily? ---------------------------------------------- #TonyFadell #20VC #HarryStebbings #futureshape #climatetech #climatechange #iphone #ipod #techhistory #internethistory #venturecapital #business