In describing how difficult and lonely the work of becoming an entrepreneur is, Nest's Matt Rogers stresses the importance of surrounding yourself with a team that will augment your weaknesses and serve as trusted advisors. He also underscores how much can be overcome simply by having a can-do attitude.

Matt Rogers, co-founder and vice president of engineering at Nest, recalls how working on projects at Apple from beginning to end put him in a position to lead teams. He also talks about how a great career can be built by taking on projects that others think are unworthy.

Matt Rogers, co-founder and vice president of engineering at Nest, urges entrepreneurs to focus on concrete and discrete business opportunities, rather than try to aim for some grand vision. He then explains how focusing on problems that others ignored presented his company with a wide-open market.

Matt Rogers, co-founder and vice president of engineering at Nest, recounts how the "unglamorous" pre-launch phase was spent doing the vital work of validating needs in the market, assembling talent and producing the first product, before pitching to investors. He also stresses the importance of always having a plan, even as conditions change, in order to drive progress.

Nest Co-Founder Matt Rogers discusses the difficulty of firing a highly qualified engineer he worked with at Apple who lacked the attitude needed in a small, startup environment. From that experience, Rogers says he learned the importance of "hiring well" and fixing mistakes as quickly as possible.

Matt Rogers, co-founder and vice president of engineering at Nest, explains how the sale of his startup to Google was not an exit, but was instead the first step toward reaching the masses. He also discusses how scaling up requires investing in new products, marketing, and Nest's platform and ecosystem.