EPISODE · Feb 17, 2026 · 19 MIN
Carl Pei, CEO at Nothing: Building a smartphone company is nearly impossible ant Nothing did it
from Scaling Europe · host Sebastian Johnson
Building a consumer hardware company in Europe is brutally hard. Capital-intensive, unforgiving, and dominated by giants, it’s a category most founders avoid entirely.At Slush in Helsinki, I spoke with Carl Pei about why Nothing chose to take that risk anyway, what most people underestimate about hardware, and how design, pragmatism, and long time horizons shaped the company’s path.The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel – check them out here:https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjkTimestamps:0:00 - Introduction to Scaling Europe show1:11 - Challenges of consumer hardware companies2:50 - Importance of a full stack approach4:44 - Differentiation through design strategy6:11 - Challenges of scaling manufacturing processes7:00 - Future of operating systems and AI integration9:10 - Founder’s journey in upgrading skills9:43 - Importance of numbers in fundraising10:24 - Vision for future revenue growth12:45 - Future of physical AI and data scale14:34 - Discussion on monopoly and lock-in decisions15:06 - Challenges of being too big or too small17:00 - Building a tech business in Europe19:01 - Importance of hiring young, ambitious talent
What this episode covers
Building a consumer hardware company in Europe is brutally hard. Capital-intensive, unforgiving, and dominated by giants, it’s a category most founders avoid entirely.At Slush in Helsinki, I spoke with Carl Pei about why Nothing chose to take that risk anyway, what most people underestimate about hardware, and how design, pragmatism, and long time horizons shaped the company’s path.The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel – check them out here:https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjkTimestamps:0:00 - Introduction to Scaling Europe show1:11 - Challenges of consumer hardware companies2:50 - Importance of a full stack approach4:44 - Differentiation through design strategy6:11 - Challenges of scaling manufacturing processes7:00 - Future of operating systems and AI integration9:10 - Founder’s journey in upgrading skills9:43 - Importance of numbers in fundraising10:24 - Vision for future revenue growth12:45 - Future of physical AI and data scale14:34 - Discussion on monopoly and lock-in decisions15:06 - Challenges of being too big or too small17:00 - Building a tech business in Europe19:01 - Importance of hiring young, ambitious talent
NOW PLAYING
Carl Pei, CEO at Nothing: Building a smartphone company is nearly impossible ant Nothing did it
No transcript for this episode yet
Similar Episodes
No similar episodes found.
Similar Podcasts
No similar podcasts found.