Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making
Not everyone is lucky enough to have a seasoned mentor in their corner, someone who has already made the expensive mistakes so you don't have to. This book does a convincing job of filling that gap. Tony Fadell, the mind behind the iPod, the iPhone, and the Nest Learning Thermostat, has packed decades of hard-won experience into something that reads less like a business manual and more like a frank conversation over coffee with someone who's genuinely been through it. The failures, the breakthroughs, the moments of sheer disorientation. He covers the lot. Choosing a role, managing people, thinking about design, getting a company off the ground and keeping it there. Each topic gets the clarity it deserves, nothing padded, nothing vague. What makes Fadell's approach interesting is that it isn't built on fashionable Silicon Valley thinking. It's grounded in human nature, in the kind of practical wisdom that doesn't expire when the next trend arrives. Short, direct, and occasionally blunt, it's the sort of guidance you'd actually follow. Malcolm Gladwell has called it the most fascinating memoir of curiosity and invention he's read, while Adam Grant credits it with prompting serious rethinking around products, teams, and culture. High praise, and on this occasion, it's warranted.
- Author: Tony Fadell
- Publisher: Penguin (Transworld)
- Genre: Entrepreneurship
- ISBN: 978-0552177757
- Pages: 416 pages