/Tech18h ago

Tony Fadell Appears on Lenny's Podcast in Highly Praised Episode

30131168733.8K

#127

Original post

Lenny Rachitsky@lennysan#127inTech

Tony Fadell's resume:

+ Co-created the iPhone → $2.3 trillion in sales + Created the iPod → saved Apple from bankruptcy + Founded Nest → AI in your home 11 years before ChatGPT

I asked him about everything he's learned: 🔸 Why opinion-based decisions are essential for v1 products 🔸 Why marketing matters as much as the product itself 🔸 Why taste is the biggest moat in AI 🔸 His prediction for the next breakthrough consumer device 🔸 Why "cognitive surrender" to AI is the biggest risk for builders

Listen now 👇 https://youtu.be/RJjl1TwyfWM

2:04 PM · Jun 7, 2026 · 20.8K Views

/Tech18h ago

Tony Fadell Appears on Lenny's Podcast in Highly Praised Episode

30131168733.8K

#127

Original post

Lenny Rachitsky@lennysan#127inTech

Tony Fadell's resume:

+ Co-created the iPhone → $2.3 trillion in sales + Created the iPod → saved Apple from bankruptcy + Founded Nest → AI in your home 11 years before ChatGPT

Listen now 👇 https://youtu.be/RJjl1TwyfWM

2:04 PM · Jun 7, 2026 · 20.8K Views

Sentiment

Users praise Tony Fadell's Lenny's Podcast episode and book for his conviction-driven product decisions over consensus plus insightful AI timing and trust frameworks.

Pos

100.0%

Neg

0.0%

11 comments with sentiment.

Cluster Engagement

Posts from X

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VIEWS8.1KBOOKMARKS21LIKES16RETWEETS3REPLIES1

Arthur Castro@arthurklose

I’ve listened to almost all episodes of @lennysan and this one is for sure one of the best.

Just listen to it @tfadell is legendary

https://youtu.be/RJjl1TwyfWM

18h8.1K1621

Lenny Rachitsky@lennysan

Thank you to our sponsors @WorkOS and @TrustVanta for supporting the podcast: 🏆 @WorkOS — Make your app Enterprise Ready, with SSO, SCIM, RBAC, and more: https://workos.com/lenny 🏆 @TrustVanta — Automate compliance, manage risk, and accelerate trust with AI: https://vanta.com/lenny

Also available on: • Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1AgXVpZ7CHqOJHaLy1DWmG • Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/father-of-the-ipod-and-iphone-on-building/id1627920305?i=1000771544935

Lenny Rachitsky@lennysan

Tony Fadell's resume:

+ Co-created the iPhone → $2.3 trillion in sales + Created the iPod → saved Apple from bankruptcy + Founded Nest → AI in your home 11 years before ChatGPT

Listen now 👇 https://youtu.be/RJjl1TwyfWM

18h4.8K81

Rob Imbeault@RobImbeault

@lennysan Didn’t even mention general magic!

Aged myself didn’t I?

I’ll see myself out.

17h70

Gheorghe Iuga@gheorgheiuga

@lennysan glad this landed on my timeline

17h851

Alexander Khuda@alexkhuda

@lennysan His book is good. Read it twice.

15h641

Lenny Rachitsky@lennysan

@RobImbeault Had to keep it short for the X mind

17h581

Jonathan Orosco@JonathanOrosco

@lennysan Really appreciate Fadell’s framework, which is deceptively profound. Begin with human friction, then ask what technological inflection makes a new answer possible.

13h131

Mike Taylor@hammer_mt

@lennysan Also intern at general magic! The company that made the iPhone before the iPhone

13h39

KageMan@kageman

@lennysan Oh man I have loved @tfadells book and can’t wait to get to this one

13h20

Vidhan | Talkbook@vidhanmertiya

@lennysan his book is soo good. a must read

18h21

Ferbin@Ferbin08

@lennysan Constraints make you better. When I build bots, the cleanest explanations are the ones I've had to compress. They strip the fluff. Same with tweets.

16h8

Ferbin@Ferbin08

@lennysan Fadell's pattern: competition existed at every step. Zune was out. Smart thermostats already everywhere.

He didn't win by listening to what worked. He shipped conviction.

v1 survives by vision, not consensus.

18h8

JustJerry@JustJerry121

@lennysan The marketing = product point still gets underrated.

12h5

AI Subscription Deals@CheapAIToken

@lennysan AI in the home before ChatGPT is the reminder model timing matters less than trust defaults and whether the product earns a daily habit.

16h5

Bill Kerr@bill_kerrrrr

@lennysan 'AI in your home 11 years before ChatGPT' is the quietest flex on that whole resume.

13h4

Pode vir@thiagoTF

@lennysan fadell ships conviction not consensus thats the whole point ppl want the rails not the ride

18h4

Roman Builder@RomanGweb3

@lennysan the "cognitive surrender" one is the sleeper of this list. fadell's whole edge was having a strong opinion before the data came in, and that's exactly the muscle that atrophies first the moment you let the model make the call for you

18h