Are you at the crossroads of a tricky decision? Perhaps this book might help. Author Tony Fadell runs an investment and advisory firm and a huge part of his work involves mentoring businesses. Build- An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things With Making gives an insight into his approach, so that people who are tempted to call him for midnight advice could pick up his book instead! However, there’s a catch. Fadell believes that the leadership style that wins again and again is ‘being a troublemaker, a shit-stirrer.’ And that’s what he talks about in this book.
He candidly admits, “I am not going to tell you to work two days a week and retire early…the world is full of mediocre ‘middle-of-the -road’ companies creating mediocre ‘middle-of-the-road’ crap. But I spent my entire life chasing after products and people that strive for excellence. I believe everyone should have that chance and that’s why I wrote this book.”
Who’s Tony Fadell again? He was on the team that made the iPod, the iPhone and the Nest Learning Thermostat. He is quick to clarify, “I was there but I was never there alone,” crediting the mentors who held his hand. Nice touch! Tony offers a pithy chronological progression of his life by way of introduction. He famously walked into his own farewell party to say “I am staying”, because he got a call from Steve Jobs who told him he wasn’t going anywhere; which made him realise that ‘sometimes the only way to save yourself is to walk out the door!’
This is a book that answers many questions even as you read it casually – but the big advice can be distilled as follows –
1. Your customer’s brains don’t always work like yours. Sometimes your rational argument will make an emotional connection and sometimes your emotional story will give people the rational reason to buy your product! He also dispels the myth of branded advertisements that ‘make your ego feel better but don’t drive sales!’ You have to make great products for years and years, before customers will buy a product simply because of your brand!
2. Analogies are a useful storytelling tool! They create a shorthand for complicated concepts. They are a bridge to a common experience; he borrows from Steve Jobs who said that analogies give customers superpower! They can understand a physical feature and then use an analogy to describe that feature to everyone in turn!
3. Is anyone ever truly ready to start a company? Fadell offers a four step plan to prep for this – work at a startup, work at a big company, get a mentor and find a co-founder. Fadell references the book Superfounder, which says that around 60 percent of the founders of billion-dollar startups started another company before their wild success! Many lost a ton of money.
4. Don’t marry for the money: We haven’t shifted gears to relationship advice here! Fadell talks about raising capital. You should think of fundraising as a marriage; a long-term commitment. And just like in a marriage, you can’t throw yourself at anyone who shows a little interest in you. So, don’t get married when your company is so young that you don’t know who you really are or who you want to become. Clearer now?
5. The best teams are multigenerational. For eg; Nest employed 20-year-olds and 70-year-olds! Experienced people have a wealth of wisdom that they can pass on to the next generation and young people can push back against long-held axioms.
Refreshingly enough, Fadell does not demonise boards! Instead, he encourages entrepreneurs to know themselves better. He cites the case of Zhang Yiming, founder and CEO of Tiktok, who resigned at the height of Tiktok’s popularity. “I am more interested in analysing organisational and market principles. I lack some of the skills that make an ideal manager,” Yiming said at the time. Such self-awareness helps the board make the right decisions. Therefore, entrepreneurs must make an effort to help their board grasp exactly what’s going on in the company. “The better you can explain something the more you understand. If, an as entrepreneur you find yourself in a situation where
– you’re struggling to explain what you’re building
-you’re presenting a report without really understanding
-the board is asking you questions you cannot answer
then you have not internalized what’s actually going on at your own company. In such a case you have a real problem,” explains Fadell.
As a reader, you can either read the book from start to finish, or hop around and discover snapshots of the world. Whatever works for you!