About this presentation

From the iPod and the iPhone to the Nest Learning Thermostat, Tony Fadell's incredible creations have disrupted industries, introduced beautifully designed solutions, and changed the way we live. Which is why we selected him as the inaugural winner of the ALVA Award, a new prize presented by Behance in partnership with GE to recognize remarkable serial inventors.

As Behance CEO Scott Belsky interviews him with questions sourced from the creative community, Tony shares insights on everything from his own creative process, to best practices for prototyping, to how to keep your team motivated and passionate for the long haul.

iPod godfather and ALVA Award-winner Tony Fadell shares incredible insights on how to design, build, and ship disruptive products.

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0:41 - Presentation begins, Tony's past designs.
2:10 - Don't let the art of atoms die. Make tangible things. "Atoms + Electrons"
3:00 - Q and A begins. "What is the source of your creativity?" Frustration.
5:15 - Learn from your heroes, then you'll truly understand your craft.
6:11 - "What is the best way to prototype?" Prototype your differentiating characteristic.
8:24 - "How do you know when to scrap and start over vs iterating?" Surround yourself with the right team, and listen to your gut.
10:34 - "What's the right combination between long term strategy and agility?" You have to have constraints.
13:43 - You must ship. The people on your team need to put something on their resume.
14:26 - "What are some creative ways to get products approved?" A thoughtful passion, a detailed presentation, and partnership.
18:06 - Set constraints to strip away the excess of design. You have to ship within a year.
20:20 - "What were the greatest moments of doubt that you've encountered?" If it doesn't feel like a roller coaster ride, you're not doing something right.



About Tony Fadell

Tony Fadell is the founder and CEO of Nest Labs, Inc., the company that developed the Nest Learning Thermostat. The Nest Learning Thermostat learns about you and your home to automatically turn itself down when you're away and guides you to energy-efficient temperatures when you are home. Nest has been dubbed the "iPhone of thermostats" by Wired, and the New York Times describes it as "gorgeous, elegant and very, very smart."

Prior to Nest, Tony served as senior vice president of Apple's iPod division, reporting to Steve Jobs. He was responsible for creating the first 18 generations of the iPod digital music player and the first three generations of the iPhone.

Before joining Apple, Tony was a co-founder, CTO and director of engineering of the Mobile Computing group at Philips Electronics. He architected the award-winning Velo and Nino PDAs, and later became vice president of business development for Philips U.S. Strategy and Ventures, managing its digital music strategy and investments.

Tony is currently an advisor to and investor in several Silicon Valley startups in the mobile-Internet and green-tech industries. In his 20-plus years of experience in the consumer electronics industry, Tony has authored more than 100 patents.


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