172 Rejections Later: How Stuart Lombard Built ecobee Into a Smart Home Leader

About this episode

Stuart Lombard shares his journey of overcoming 172 rejections to build ecobee into a leading smart home brand.

What if getting rejected 172 times was the best thing that could happen to your startup? In this episode of Built Not Born, host Sage Nye sits down with Stuart Lombard, co-founder and former CEO of ecobee, to unpack the grit and strategic clarity required to build a lasting company. After 172 investor rejections, Stuart transformed ecobee into a trusted smart home brand competing against giants like Google and Nest. He shares how founders must develop the judgment to filter advice, balance hardware’s operational rigidity with software’s agility, and recognise true product-market fit before scaling. Stuart also explains why culture, transparency, and mission-driven leadership aren’t soft ideals but competitive advantages. From navigating hardware complexity to building a 600-person organisation, this conversation reveals how resilience, focus, and long-term thinking turn scrappy startups into market leaders.

People in this episode

Host: Sage Nye

Guest: Stuart Lombard

Topics covered

• startup
• rejection
• smart home
• leadership
• product-market fit

Keywords

• grit
• strategic clarity
• culture
• transparency
• mission-driven leadership

Mentioned in this episode

Products: ecobee

Books & works: Built Not Born

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