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Founder Tony Fadell leaving Nest, to advise Alphabet chief
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NewsPoster
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Jun 3, 2016, 06:18 PM
 
Nest founder and former Apple executive Tony Fadell, who championed the iPod before starting home-automation company Nest is leaving his CEO role at the company, which is now owned by Alphabet (formerly Google). In a statement, Fadell claims he began discussions with Google about his "next endeavor" last year, and will move into an advisory role to Alphabet CEO Larry Page, turning over the keys at Nest to former Motorola Home and Charter cable executive Marwan Fawaz.

In announcing his departure from Nest some two years after it was bought by Google, Fadell noted that "I don't like to do 'maintenance mode,'" suggesting that Nest's principle products -- the Nest Learning Thermostat, Nest Cam (formerly Dropcam), and the Next Protect smoke detector will not be as actively developed as before, though he also said he was leaving the company with "a two-year roadmap." Fadell intends to focus more on some of the startup companies that he is involved with, such as the venture-funded Actev Motors electric go-kart company.



Despite Fadell's statement and a similar supportive release from Page, recent reports over the last year of Nest turmoil due to Fadell's abrasive and abusive management style -- a factor that also contributed to his departure from Apple -- and Nest's inability to generate another product anywhere near as popular as the Nest thermostat suggest that Fadell may have been forced out of the Nest division in a manner not dissimilar to his mentor Steve Jobs' original exit from Apple in the mid-80s.

Fadell admitted in a rather defensive interview with The New York Times that he is apparently unable to get new products launched at Nest anymore, saying that just improving existing products is "not what gets me out of bed." He said that he was "looking forward to my new role as an advisor to Alphabet and Larry, which will give me more time and flexibility to pursue new opportunities to create and disrupt other industries - and to support others who want to do the same -- just as we've done at Nest. We should all be disruptors!"

Less clear in Fadell's departure is what may become of the remnants of the Google Glass project, transferred to his supervision at the beginning of last year. Nothing has been heard from the project since, and it was widely assumed to be killed off. Fadell was the subject of a scathing expose on a "broken" company culture at Nest published by The Information in March, and there was a brief Twitter war between Fadell and Dropcam founder Greg Duffy later that same month -- the revelations of which show an executive widely despised within his company, and perhaps laying the foundation of Fadell's departure.

Fadell told the NYT that he wants to do more mentoring to younger tech companies: "I don't know why I feel this way, but between working closely with Bill Campbell, working closely with Steve Jobs, and watching a lot of my mentors pass on, unfortunately, I feel like I bear this responsibility now," he said. "There's a few of us who are keepers of that knowledge." Fadell invests in a number of startups, including Impossible Foods, Actev, Mousera, and Phononic.
( Last edited by NewsPoster; Jun 4, 2016 at 05:31 PM. )
     
Inkling
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Jun 4, 2016, 01:16 PM
 
Leaving Next to work for Alphabet? Someone who didn't know better would think both companies make preschool toys.
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Steve Wilkinson
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Jun 4, 2016, 01:58 PM
 
I almost bought a Nest when we bought our home and started the reno (which involved a new furnace). Then I discovered that they used a transistor (instead of a relay) that was prone to fail (really bad if you're in Canada and not Silicon Valley), as well as some un-wise moves like pushing firmware updates mid-winter (that caused some failures... see above).

And, after learning about that, I started investigating other 'smart-home' upgrades I'd been considering. Pretty much every one of them were flawed in crucial ways. It's like the designers/developers have never really owned a home or live in the real world outside Silicon Valley... oh, wait, they probably haven't!

So, I pretty much have a good-ol dumb-home for now... as much as I think some well-designed smart-home stuff could really make some differences. (For example, a smart exhaust fan system designed into the home could save a LOT of money on AC in many areas.)

(As an aside, I used to work for an industrial design firm that designed some pretty cool houses... ahead of anything I've seen yet, and it was nearing two decades ago. It's pretty hard to make advances in the initial design/construction due to getting through regulations... so unfortunately, most of this stuff will be aftermarket for a long time.)
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coffeetime
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Jun 4, 2016, 07:52 PM
 
Google let Fadell go. Nest aquisition is a total failure. Alphabet is on its own again. Some startups are just better left alone. Very poor judgement for Google on the Nest buyout. I guess when you have so much money, you are etching to buy something. Also anything with Google name on it is a spying device. Amazon is in much better position currently in term of building thermostat and other home devices that are less intrusive (I mean on the surface as how the brand projecting trust on consumers). Perhaps Google should focus more on B2B and acquire a satellite company (and name their first satellite "EYE-C-U").
( Last edited by coffeetime; Jun 4, 2016 at 08:22 PM. )
     
   
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