Chapter 1: The Rise of Nvidia

Jensen Huang, the visionary founder of Nvidia, has led the company to become the third largest globally, boasting an impressive market capitalization of $2.2 trillion. Over the past year, Nvidia's stock has surged by 280%, and it has witnessed a staggering growth of over 2200% in the last five years. The company's quarterly revenue has skyrocketed from $5 billion to $18 billion, with net income soaring from $2 billion to $9 billion per quarter. With a remarkable employee approval rating of 98%, Huang has earned the title of the world's best CEO in 2023.

Despite facing numerous hurdles within the chip sector, including a significant shift from gaming to data centers, mining, and AI, Huang has emerged as a leader in the industry. Born in Tainan, Taiwan, he grew up in a modest household where his parents aspired for him and his brother to receive an American education. Huang later attended Oregon State University, held a director position at LSI Logic, and earned a master's degree in electrical engineering from Stanford. On his 30th birthday, he took a bold step towards entrepreneurship and founded Nvidia alongside fellow engineers Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem.

Chapter 2: Innovating Through Challenges

Nvidia, originally known as NV, was established by three engineers in the late 1990s to cater to the burgeoning video game market. The company's initial product, the NV1, utilized quadratic primitives, which were eventually replaced by triangle primitives after Microsoft's intervention in 1995. This transition resulted in significant layoffs and led to the creation of the RIVA 128, which sold over a million units in just four months.

In 1999, Nvidia went public, leveraging the momentum gained from the RIVA 128 to develop its first comprehensive GPU, the George 256. This GPU proved to be a resounding success, securing a $200 million contract with Microsoft to be the official GPU partner for the Xbox, which greatly increased Nvidia's visibility and earned it a spot on the S&P 500.

However, Nvidia encountered difficulties in penetrating the PC market. In 2008, industry giants like Apple, Dell, and HP filed a class-action lawsuit against Nvidia due to high failure rates of its GPUs. Though Nvidia agreed to reimburse or repair affected devices, the company suffered losses of $150-$200 million, resulting in layoffs and a significant stock price drop.

Jensen's second principle of success revolves around humble optimism. He learned that it is acceptable for CEOs to admit when a strategy, technology, or product fails.

Nvidia became synonymous with gaming graphics by the 2010s, dominating the GPU industry. However, Huang's willingness to adapt and explore uncharted territories led to significant innovations. His focus on cryptocurrency mining created a GPU shortage for the core gaming community, yet Nvidia continued to pursue advancements in AI self-driving technology through a partnership with Tesla. Although Tesla eventually transitioned to its own chips in early 2019, Huang remained confident that many companies would seek AI chips, propelling Nvidia's unprecedented growth in recent years and establishing it as the leading AI chip manufacturer.

Today, tech giants like Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Amazon are investing tens of billions of dollars in these chips. Remarkably, Nvidia's revenue accounts for less than 5% of its market capitalization, indicating its potential to become a trillion-dollar company. Jensen Huang continues to be recognized as the top CEO globally, driven by the belief that Nvidia is always just one misstep away from losing everything.

In this video, Jensen Huang shares insights into Nvidia's journey, discussing the company's pivotal moments and the importance of innovation.

In this video, Jensen Huang reflects on the first six months of Nvidia's founding and the challenges faced during its early years.