
Tony Fadell
Engineer, designer, entrepreneur, and investor

Bio
Anthony “Tony” Fadell is an active investor and entrepreneur with a 30+ year history of founding companies and designing products that profoundly improve people’s lives. He founded Nest Labs, Inc. in 2010 and served as its Chief Executive Officer until 2016. Known as the “father of the iPod,” he joined Apple Computer Inc. in 2001 and, as the SVP of Apple’s iPod division, led the team that created the first 18 generations of the iPod and the first three generations of the iPhone.
Fadell has filed more than 300 patents for his work and was named one of Time's “100 Most Influential People in the World” in 2014. In May 2016, Time named the Nest Learning Thermostat, the iPod and the iPhone three of the “50 Most Influential Gadgets of All Time.” Fadell graduated with a BS degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1991.
Recommended Readings

News
iPod Inventor and Nest Founder Tony Fadell Named MAD’s Inaugural Designer in Residence

Sep 30, 2025
Watch the Replay of Beyond Human: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Design

Dec 12, 2024
Event Replay—Making What Matters: A Conversation with MAD Designer in Residence, Tony Fadell

Jan 21, 2026
Events

Design Miami: Beyond Human
Panel / Roundtable, Conference, Design Miami
Dec 6, 2024

MAD Reads
Book Club
Oct 21, 2025

Making What Matters
Lecture
Oct 22, 2025

Making Things Worth Making
Workshop, Lecture, MITdesignX
Jan 30, 2026
“Making What Matters”
“Making What Matters” introduces Tony Fadell as the inaugural MIT MAD Designer in Residence.
Fadell joins Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator of Architecture and Design at MoMA, for a wide-ranging conversation on how design decisions shape technology, daily life, and the futures we imagine. Drawing from decades of experience building world-changing products, Fadell reflects on responsibility in design, learning from failure, and what it truly means to make things worth making.
Presented by MIT MAD, this talk explores the intersection of design, innovation, ethics, and impact, challenging designers, technologists, and creators to think more critically about the systems and products they put into the world.