Google’s Smart-Home Company Is Struggling

Product glitches and poor organizational culture are causing trouble at Google’s smart-home company Nest, which has fallen well short of revenue projections since the search engine giant bought it for $3.2B in 2014.

Nest’s three products—its smart thermostat, smart fire alarm and smart camera—have seen glitches from service outages to turning houses into freezers. (Seriously.)

And it’s not just customers who have an icy relationship with Google's smart home company. Nest CEO Tony Fadell (pictured) creates an atmosphere of fear, ex-employees tell Business Insider, where unrealistic deadlines mean it's "always crunch time." And employees are asked to work on weekends for months on end. "Nest's every step is administered to death” by Fadell, one employee says. [BI]

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Related Topics: Google , Google Nest , Smart home , Tony Fadell
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