A boring wall fixture and an unlikely target for innovation Not to Fadell, his team of 100 computer hardware and software experts and the venture capitalists backing his Silicon Valley start-up, Nest Labs. They see the conventional thermostat as a dumb switch that can be changed into a clever digital assistant that saves homeowners money and reduces energy consumption and pollution. Weve built the worlds first learning thermostat a thermostat for the iPhone generation, Fadell said.