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Jensen Huang, Founder and CEO of NVIDIA

Stanford Graduate School of Business

1.5M Views . 2024-03-06

In this View From The Top interview, Shantam Jain, MBA ’24, speaks with Jensen Huang, Founder and CEO of NVIDIA. As of March 1, 2024, NVIDIA is the third most valuable company on Wall Street, with over $2T in market value. Jensen shares his experience founding NVIDIA, getting funded, building the first killer application for NVIDIA’s technology, deciding which markets are worth exploring, finding the conviction in making non-consensus bets, steering the company through challenging times, designing the right organization structure, and finally, his views on the AI revolution. Excerpts from the interview: - On reputation: “You can have a good or bad interview, but you can't run away from your past, so have a good past; I was probably Denny's [first job] best dishwasher” - On early days: “In order for NVIDIA to succeed we needed another startup to succeed—EA… and EA’s CTO was 14 and had to be driven to work by his mom… that’s who we were relying on” - On markets: “If someone else can do it, let them do it; focus on--if I don't do it, it won't get done” - On core beliefs: “My reaction during that time [when NVIDIA lost 80% of market value in the financial crisis], is the same reaction I had about this week [when NVIDIA crossed $2T and became the 3rd most valuable company on Wall Street]” - On unique organizational design: “You have to go back to first principles ... as a CEO I have to architect the company and create an organization that allows my employees to do their life’s work”

Jensen Huang, founder of NVIDIA, explains his decision to leave LSI Logic and start a new company with Chris and Curtis. The idea came from them wanting to explore new problems that general purpose computers couldn't handle, particularly within the emerging microprocessor revolution.

NVIDIA founding
Microprocessor Revolution
LSI Logic
Sun

  • Jensen Huang left his job at LSI Logic to start a new company with Chris and Curtis, who were at Sun at the time.
  • The goal of the company was to build computers that could solve problems that traditional computers couldn't, and they believed that the microprocessor revolution was about to begin.

Insights from the YouTube Video Clip:

1. The Power of Serendipity and Strong Connections:

This clip highlights how a chance encounter with colleagues, Chris and Curtis, at Denny's, sparked a monumental shift in Jensen's career trajectory. It underscores the importance of nurturing strong professional relationships and being open to unexpected opportunities. The chance meeting ultimately led to the founding of a successful company that revolutionized computing.

2. The Impact of Foresight and Market Timing:

Jensen's ability to anticipate the potential of the microprocessor revolution and its impact on problem-solving capabilities demonstrates the power of foresight in business. Recognizing the limitations of general-purpose computing, he and his co-founders built a company that specialized in addressing

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