How Nothing Founder Carl Pei Built A Multi-Million Dollar Smartphone Brand In Just 2 Years

After co-founding the successful Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus, Carl Pei felt the tech industry was missing the fun and wonder he remembered as a dedicated gadget fan growing up in Sweden. Pei decided to launch a new smartphone brand, this time with an increased focus on thoughtful user interface and stylish yet practical designs. In only two years, the brand known as "Nothing" has gained a cult following and gone to $600 million in annualized revenue. On this episode of The Main Function, Pei reflects on the highs and lows that have come with the journey of pursuing excellence in hard tech.

00:00 - Coming Up
00:36 - Carl's journey into tech
02:47 - Starting OnePlus
05:27 - How Nothing came to be
07:07 - Building a new smartphone is hard
10:07 - Why Nothing made earbuds first
13:12 - Cultivating a cool brand
14:22 - The right Tim Cook/Jony Ive ratio
15:21 - Nothing's glyph interface
17:09 - Carl's favorite designs
19:38 - Advice for hard tech founders

[chapterme]

Chapters (Powered by ChapterMe) -
00:00 - Coming Up
00:36 - Intro: Journey into tech and making smartphones
01:13 - Growing up inspired by Apple products
02:47 - Getting in touch with OnePlus
03:53 - OnePlus original vision
04:29 - Android based: Cyanogen
05:27 - Starting Nothing
07:07 - What was the first thing you wanted to do?
08:45 - Foxconn: Game theory
10:07 - Making earbuds first
12:38 - What caused you to roll up the sleeves?
13:12 - Cultivating a cult brand
14:22 - Advice for hardware startups
15:21 - Glyph interface
17:09 - Rapid Fire Design Questions
19:38 - Last words for hardware founders
20:45 - Outro

[wait...]

As a founder of nothing,
I find this really helpful

[kane]

Carl is one of my favorite startup founders! building a successful hardware brand is no easy feat...nothing but respect

[SHRAVANSRINIVAS-vc]

🎉 kudos to the team to make the background look like nothing phone. Minimalistic and nice.

[msolomonbush]

I like this 1:1 format - you should do more of these

[richard-bm]

I could so very much relate to the video from the play time 12:53 where Carl stated : "there's a beauty to not having another option, it forces you to survive"....🎉

[AmariettaMagazine]

Longer interviews, especially with founders, can offer deeper, more valuable insights. In an extended format, interviewees have the opportunity to share their experiences, challenges, and strategies in greater detail, which is essential for entrepreneurs and those interested in startups to learn in a more meaningful way. In addition to the six basic questions, they could explore topics such as the personal journey, crucial decisions, failures faced, and the impact of these decisions on the company's success.

Y Combinator could consider adding an in-depth interview series where founders discuss these aspects in a more narrative format.

[RahulKahani_]

The design of Nothing products are so dope.

It's nice to see people to continue building hardware. Often, all you read warnings about trying to build hardware and encouragement to stick to software.

[mariusschober]

Wow, Carl Pei is such a down to earth cool dude.

[nesnaj]

Enjoying these 1-1 interviews! Impressive accomplishments from Carl, wishing him all the best.

[yinitialize]

He acutally gives steve jobs vibes. Also what nothing is doing actually caters the common needs and execution is on point. Would be exciting to look at Nothing after 10 years, might be closest to Apple.

[jfaroque]

I've been one of those earlier Ear 1 owners, it as been almost 3 years and with two replacements, still not completely functional, but don't want to return it again only because it was the first one... Admire a lot the effort of Nothing, although sometimes it seems they are a little bit trying to do more things that we were expecting, and don't focus on the final client expectations...

[ryanrodriguez]

This was such a good interview! Great questions and really interesting answers!

[AmariettaMagazine]

20 minutes is not enough time to explore the nuances and complexities of a founder's journey. Longer conversations allow you to explore important details, such as strategic decisions, difficulties overcome and lessons learned along the way. For truly effective learning, it would be ideal for interviews to be more extensive, enabling a deeper and more comprehensive analysis.

[eachlabs]

Summary by Each AI (Zapier for AI development)

1. **Carl Pei's Journey into Tech and Starting OnePlus**:
- Carl Pei, founder of Nothing, began as a tech enthusiast and eventually joined Oppo, where he co-founded OnePlus. He was instrumental in creating the OnePlus brand, focusing on online sales and leveraging Oppo’s supply chain. His experience at OnePlus laid the foundation for his later ventures.

2. **Founding Nothing and Launching the First Product**:
- After leaving OnePlus, Carl founded Nothing, starting with earbuds due to challenges in breaking into the smartphone market. Despite initial manufacturing issues, they successfully sold 600, 000 units in the first year. Carl emphasizes the importance of sequencing product launches to build credibility in the hardware industry.

[ppan]

Carl is such a role model! I hope Nothing thrives 🎉💯

[truechord]

Nothing should do a mini smart phone, that has scalable screen(Folsom) screen to prevent REmote Desktop nibs. Also partner with Pi or Neeweeno with a airgapped port.

[speedmariner]

Great insights here! Thanks for this episode

[tobiascornille]

Very interesting story, didn't know how he started out!

[randomstuffz]

I WAS WAITING FOR THIS>>> RESPECT ++++