Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making

by Tony Fadell

The iPod was Apple’s only successful new non-Mac product in fifteen years. At times it accounted for more than 50 percent of Apple’s revenue. It was hugely popular and still growing fast. It defined the company for millions of non-Mac customers. But we decided to eat our own. We had to make the iPhone, even though we knew it could, probably would, kill the iPod. It was an enormous risk. But with any disruption, the competition only wallows in Denial and Anger for so long. Eventually they reach Acceptance, and if they’ve got any life left in them, they’ll start working furiously to catch up to you. Or you may inspire a whole new wave of companies who can use your initial disruption as a stepping-stone to leapfrog you. When you can see the competition nipping at your heels, you have to do something new. You have to fundamentally change who you are as a business. You have to keep moving.