People

Tony Fadell

Tony Fadell

Formal First Name
Anthony (Tony)
Dates
1969 - present
Location

Tony Fadell is an engineer, designer, entrepreneur, and investor, with a 30+ year history of founding companies and designing products that profoundly improve people's lives. Tony is the principal at Future Shape, an investment and advisory firm coaching deep tech start-ups. He has spent the last three decades making things and founding companies that have immensely changed millions of lives. He spent the first 10 years of his career in Silicon Valley, and the next 20 building some of the most impactful devices in history - the iPod, iPhone, and Nest Learning Thermostat. Previously, Tony co-founded and was the CEO of Nest, which pioneered the Internet of Things and revolutionized household electronics. Prior to this, he was the Senior Vice President of Apple’s iPod division and led the team that created the first 18 generations of the iPod and the first three generations of the iPhone. In addition, Tony is the author of over 300 patents as well as the book Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making.

Professional Experience


Academic History

EARLY CAREER

  • Known as "The Father of iPod," Tony oversaw all iPod hardware, software, and accessories development.

  • Prior to joining Apple, he was Co-founder, CTO, and DireCTOr of Engineering of the mobile computing group at Philips Electronics.

  • At Philips, he also architectured the award-winning Velo and Nino Personal Digital Assistants.

  • He later on became Philip's VP of Business Development, where he managed its digital music strategy and investments.

  • Earlier in his career, he was a hardware and software architect at General Magic where he worked with Sony, Philips, Matsushita, and Toshiba, among others.


HONORS & RECOGNITIONS

  • 2014 TIME Most Influential People in the World

  • 2014 CNN 10: Thinkers

  • 2014 Golden Plate Award, American Academy of Achievement

  • 2014 Fortune The World's Top 25 Eco-Innovators

  • 2013 Fortune Trailblazers 11 People Changing Business

  • 2013 Business Insider Top 75 Designers in Technology

  • 2013 Fast Company 100 Most Creative People

  • 2013 CNBC Top 50 Disruptors

  • 2012 Alva Award The Next Great Serial Inventor