iPod之父法德爾 下一個喬布斯還是下一個拉里·佩奇

In the late 1990s a young entrepreneur named Tony Fadell tried to persuade Stewart Alsop, a journalist who had recently become a venture capitalist, to invest in his startup, Fuse Systems. Fadell had done a stint at the pioneering mobile-software company General Magic and then created a division within Philips to make handheld devices. Neither General Magic nor the Philips pocket computers amounted to much. But Fadell intended to leverage his experience with a new venture. His pitch was not subtle. Says Alsop: “He essentially said, ‘I’m the guy who knows more about mobile products than anyone else. Give me money.’ ” Alsop declined.

上世紀90年代末，一位名叫託尼o法德爾的年輕企業家試圖說服記者出身的風險投資家斯圖爾特o艾爾索普投資於自己的新創企業Fuse Systems。法德爾曾在先鋒移動軟件公司General Magic就職，隨後在飛利浦（Philips）創建了一個專做手持設備的部門。General Magic和飛利浦的袖珍電腦產品都未能取得大的成就。不過，法德爾打算利用自身經驗開展一項新的事業。法德爾的說辭可不謙虛。艾爾索普說：“法德爾對我說：‘關於移動產品，我懂得比誰都多。給我投資吧。’”艾爾索普拒絕了。

An entire decade passed before Fadell asked VCs for cash again. But what a decade it was. Fadell abandoned Fuse Systems and joined Apple to lead the team that created the iPod. That singular achievement–the iPod rejuvenated Apple and reordered the music industry–transformed him from a struggling startup guy to an accomplished executive who’d withstood the sound and fury of Steve Jobs. Fadell became known around Silicon Valley as the mercurial “godfather” of the iPod, and he added another dazzling line to his résumé by assisting in the development of the iPhone. When he stepped down from Apple’s management team in 2008, there was much speculation about his next move.

此後，整整過了十年，法德爾纔再次向風投伸手要錢。他這十年可是沒有虛度。法德爾放棄了Fuse Systems項目，加盟蘋果並領導團隊開發出了iPod。iPod這款產品重振了蘋果公司，還顛覆了整個音樂產業。這項成就也使法德爾從一個苦苦奮鬥的創業者變成了一位敢於直面史蒂夫o喬布斯的咆哮和怒火的成功高管。硅谷都知道法德爾這位善變的iPod“教父”。之後，他又協助開發了iPhone，給自己的簡歷又添上了濃墨重彩的一筆。法德爾2008年離開蘋果公司管理團隊時，對於他的下一步舉動，外界曾有種種猜測。

Rather than jump into anything, Fadell took a couple of years off to travel and build a vacation home. The latter experience triggered an epiphany: He hated all of the thermostats he had to choose from for his house, and he decided to design a new, better one, around which he’d build a company called Nest Labs. He hit the fundraising circuit in 2010, and this time the reception was significantly more welcoming. His pitching skills had improved. Randy Komisar, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, remembers staring at a black velvet cloth draped over a product. Fadell would remove it only after he’d methodically set up the business case.

法德爾沒有馬上發力，而是休息了幾年，四處旅行，還給自己建了個度假屋。建度假屋的經歷給了他靈感：他得給自己的房子選一款恆溫調節器，但他對可選的產品都很不滿意。法德爾最後決定自己動手設計一款更出色的新品，同時圍繞這款產品打造一家叫Nest Labs的公司。他在2010年開始募資，這一次，他明顯受待見多了。他的遊說能力也得到了很大的提高。風投公司KPCB合夥人蘭迪o科米薩記得自己盯着蓋在產品上的一塊黑天鵝絨。法德爾直到有條不紊地講完商業案例後，才揭開了這層神祕的面紗。

For Apple cognoscenti, the cloak-over-the-device shtick was an overt homage to Steve Jobs. The late CEO routinely shrouded products, in public demos as well as in his own conference room, in order to build excitement for the big reveal. Yet when Fadell pulled back the veil to display a Styrofoam prototype of a round thermostat, Komisar was crestfallen. “My emotions couldn’t have been lower,” he says. He perked up, however, when he saw Fadell’s last slide: “After the thermostat we plan to do the same thing for every unloved product in the home and make them all magical.” Says Komisar: “Then I got it. Nest was a Trojan horse into the home. In 48 hours we had a check for Tony.”

瞭解蘋果的人都知道，讓產品猶抱琵琶半遮面的手法明顯是效仿已故蘋果前首席執行官史蒂夫o喬布斯。喬布斯不論是在公開展示中，還是在自己的會議室裏，一貫喜歡把產品先蓋起來，以增加聽衆對“掀起蓋頭”的期待和興奮。然而，當法德爾掀起黑天鵝絨，展示圓形恆溫器的泡沫塑料原型機時，科米薩失望不已。他說：“我當時的心情簡直跌到了谷底。”不過，當他看到法德爾的最後一張幻燈片時，又振作了起來。這張幻燈片上寫着：“在恆溫器之後，我們計劃將所有不討喜的家居設備一一改造，化腐朽爲神奇。”科米薩說：“我一下子就明白了。Nest就是入侵家居領域的特洛伊木馬。於是，我們在48小時內就給託尼開了支票。”