Tony Fadell

Inventor, designer, entrepreneur and angel investor, Tony Fadell is responsible for some of the biggest advancements in technology of the 21st century. Often described as one of the fathers of the iPod, Tony played a significant part in the creation of the first 18 generations of the iPod and shaped a great deal of the way portable communication devices have developed. Tony’s entrepreneurial spirit became clear at a young age, when he and a school friend set up a business selling Apple II products by mail order from his friend’s basement, aged just 16 years old. Whilst studying at the University of Michigan, he set up another two businesses.

Following this, he spent time at Philips Electronics and Apple spinoff, General Magic, developing handheld portable communicators. Though his ideas were well received, sales did not do very well, and Tony was frequently faced with disappointment. Eventually, however, having started his own company and continuing to develop his devices, Tony was approached by Apple. He soon became Vice-President of the iPod division at Apple Inc., and was responsible for the design and creation of the first iPods, using elements from his earlier designs. He went on to oversee the production of iPhones and the continued growth of Apple products, until he resigned to spend more time with his family.

It was during this break that he recognised the need for a modern thermostat, as the current design was outdated and not cost-efficient. This led to him founding Nest Labs, and developing the world’s first learning thermostat, that could save consumers 20% on energy bills. Following on from this success, Nest went onto develop a smart smoke and carbon monoxide detector. In January 2014, the company was bought by Google for £3.2bn, and Tony was excited to be working on the various projects, such as in the Google Glass division. The Nest thermostat, iPod and iPhone were named in TIME’s 50 Most Influential Gadgets of All Time in May 2016, proving that Tony’s passion for technological advancements in his products led to a great deal of success.