Summary of Tony Fadell’s Build

Sample Book Insights:

#1 The first time I tried to build the iPhone was in 1989, when I founded General Magic with two other Apple employees. We designed a beautiful touchscreen mobile computer that combined a cell phone and fax machine.

#2 There is a common assumption that if you find the right job when you’re young, you can guarantee some level of success. But that’s not always the case. I was 100 percent sure General Magic was going to make one of the most impactful devices in history, but the company failed.

#3 Adulthood is about screwing up constantly until you learn how to screw up a little less. When you’re looking at the range of potential careers, start by asking yourself what you want to learn.

#4 I was employee #29 at General Magic in 1991. I was a kid, twenty-one years old, and I gratefully took a job as a diagnostics software engineer. I was going to build software and hardware tools to check other people’s designs. But I didn’t care. I knew I just needed to get in the door.