Build (Tony Fadell)

Why it’s on the list: The designer behind the iPod and the Nest thermostat on a career arc from individual contributor to CEO, with the hardware chapters most management books skip — how long a physical product’s development really runs, why the second generation matters more than the first, and what it was like to work for Steve Jobs. Short, blunt, and written by someone who shipped atoms rather than only bits.

Where I heard about it

• Fil Arons (@FilArons) — in the section he marks as required on his recommended-reading list, November 2025.

Connections

• Apple — where Fadell built the iPod, and half the book’s material.
• Steve Jobs — the boss the book spends a lot of its pages reckoning with.
• Product Management — the craft the middle of the book is about.
• Company Building — the later chapters, once the product exists.