Key Takeaways
- Jensen Huang has been CEO of Nvidia since the company’s start in 1993.
- In a new talk, Huang says that he approaches problems with a specific attitude.
- He learned the mindset from his mom, who taught him English when he was young from a dictionary.
Jensen Huang approaches every new problem with the mindset How hard can it be? — an attitude he learned from his mom.
In a talk at the Cambridge Union earlier this month, the Nvidia CEO explained how his mom used “a piece of paper and a dictionary” to teach him English, even though she didn’t speak the language herself.
Huang, who was born in Taiwan, was sent to the U.S. when he was nine years old for better educational opportunities, per Business Insider. His mother, who spoke Taiwanese Hokkien, started teaching him English before he left to get him ready for the transition.
“My mom taught me English, and she doesn’t speak English,” Huang said at the talk, adding, “In a lot of ways, that kind of defines Nvidia, kind of defines me. I approach almost everything from the perspective of, How hard can it be?“
Huang co-founded Nvidia in 1993, immediately stepping into the role of CEO, a title he has now held for 32 years. Under his leadership, Nvidia has grown to the most valuable company in the world, surpassing a market value of $5 trillion last month. Nvidia now has a market capitalization of $4.58 trillion, more than its competitors, including AMD, Intel, Micron and Qualcomm, combined.
Huang pointed out that he had never been a CEO or a manager before Nvidia. He approached new endeavors with the same mindset: Break everything down to first principles and learn along the way. After all, how hard could it be?
The most important thing for him was staying in the game long enough to learn the sport. “I was able to do what I’m doing today because I didn’t get bored and I didn’t get fired,” Huang said. “That I think was the magic of it. It’s 100% of it.”
Huang’s mom also told him when he was young that he was “special,” and she encouraged him to do well on tests. Huang says that’s where he learned to set high expectations.
“If people tell you that you’re better, greater, more capable than you are, you might live up to that expectation,” Huang said. “It reminds us to do the same with our companies, and it reminds us to do the same with each other.”
Huang has created a unique management culture at Nvidia. He has 60 direct reports, preferring to keep the organization as flat as possible, but doesn’t do one-on-one meetings. He personally reviews compensation for all of Nvidia’s 42,000 employees every earnings cycle.
Huang was the ninth-richest person in the world at the time of writing, with a net worth of $162 billion.
Key Takeaways
- Jensen Huang has been CEO of Nvidia since the company’s start in 1993.
- In a new talk, Huang says that he approaches problems with a specific attitude.
- He learned the mindset from his mom, who taught him English when he was young from a dictionary.
Jensen Huang approaches every new problem with the mindset How hard can it be? — an attitude he learned from his mom.
In a talk at the Cambridge Union earlier this month, the Nvidia CEO explained how his mom used “a piece of paper and a dictionary” to teach him English, even though she didn’t speak the language herself.
