Jensen Huang: I always feel that the company is about to go bankrupt.

This week, Jensen Huang has been extremely busy in Beijing and has almost become the top figure in the tech circle.

Since July 14th, Jensen Huang has had new schedules almost every day and has made it onto the hot search lists. Every time he speaks, he praises China's AI technology and Chinese tech companies.

On July 14th, when the temperature in Beijing exceeded 35°C, Jensen Huang and Lei Jun posed for a photo in front of a Xiaomi YU7. Jensen Huang was still wearing his iconic leather jacket, while Lei Jun was in a suit. Their looks became a popular internet meme.

On July 15th, Jensen Huang revealed to the media that NVIDIA would resume selling the H20 chips to the Chinese market.

On July 16th, Jensen Huang attended the opening ceremony of the 3rd "Chain Expo". He took off his leather jacket and put on a Tang suit. He also tried to give a speech in Chinese for the first time (although he eventually switched to English).

He also publicly praised Chinese companies such as Tencent, NetEase, Mihoyo, Game Science, ByteDance, DeepSeek, Alibaba, MiniMax, Baidu, Xiaomi, and Meituan.

Later, Jensen Huang was spotted by netizens strolling around Shichahai at night. Still wearing his leather jacket, he took photos with passers - by, signed autographs, and tasted local snacks. He then went to a bar for a drink.

On the evening of the 20th, Jensen Huang was a guest on the CCTV program "Face to Face".

In the interview, Jensen Huang said that he still feels that the company is on the verge of bankruptcy every day. "I always feel that we're about to go under. I'm always thinking that just when we achieve something, others might be creating something great."

Almost simultaneously, NVIDIA's market value reached $4.21 trillion, which is significantly higher than Japan's total GDP in 2024 ($4.03 trillion).

On July 15th, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index showed that Jensen Huang's net worth was $143 billion, ranking ninth among the world's richest people, surpassing Warren Buffett.

Today, let's explore Jensen Huang's world together, delving into his entrepreneurial journey and management philosophy. We hope today's sharing will inspire you.

Behind the $7 million "life - saving money", Jensen Huang flew to Japan to apologize and saved NVIDIA

In 1993, 30 - year - old Jensen Huang joined forces with two senior chip design experts, Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem, to found NVIDIA.

Although Jensen Huang was the youngest of the three, his learning ability was so strong that the other two senior guys thought that he was the only one suitable for the CEO position!

The three of them wanted to do something big: create a graphics chip so amazing that their competitors would be "green with envy"! Initially, they wanted to name the company "NVision". Guess what? That name was already taken by a toilet paper brand!

So, Jensen Huang had a brilliant idea and found the word "Nvidia" from Latin (which means "envy"). That's how we got the well - known "NVIDIA".

As soon as the company was founded, it moved quickly. In 1995, it launched its first product, the NV1. You know, this card was quite "high - end" at that time: it could handle 2D and 3D image processing, and even audio processing!

However, problems arose: the cost was too high, and it was very expensive. Even worse, the "square drawing method" technology it used was incompatible with the mainstream "triangle drawing method" (Direct3D) standard dominated by Microsoft at that time!

High price + wrong technical path. This new product sold very poorly.

However, the interesting part of the story is that although not many NV1s were sold, its concept of "integrating everything" unexpectedly attracted a major customer - Sega, which was competing with Nintendo for the leading position in the home console market.

Sega needed this technology, and NVIDIA could develop it. The two sides hit it off! Sega generously invested $7 million to fund NVIDIA to develop the next - generation chip, the NV2, which was to be used in its new console, the Dreamcast.

Unexpectedly, NVIDIA made a fatal mistake at this critical moment! The team still clung to the "square drawing method" (while triangle drawing was the mainstream at that time).

What was the result? The development of the NV2 failed, and the Dreamcast was also delayed. To fulfill the contract, NVIDIA had to start over, but the company was almost out of money and was on the verge of bankruptcy!

The failure of the NV2 pushed NVIDIA to the edge of a cliff. What to do? Jensen Huang decided to fly to Japan himself to face the head of Sega. He was very honest: he admitted that his team was wrong, and the NV2 path was a dead end and there was no need to continue forcing it.

But he still hoped that Sega would pay according to the contract. Guess what? Maybe moved by Jensen Huang's sincerity and sense of responsibility, Sega chose to forgive and tolerate and continued to pay! It was this life - saving money that allowed NVIDIA to barely survive this crisis!

Jensen Huang later recalled this period and said: "You see, it was because we faced up to our mistakes, stopped losses in time, and humbly sought help that we survived that bankruptcy crisis."

After learning from the pain, the next year, NVIDIA, with a precise adjustment of its technical direction, launched its third - generation product: Riva128.

What made this chip so amazing?

It was the first high - performance 128 - bit graphics chip supporting the Microsoft Direct3D standard! Its performance was four times better than its competitors! This not only won the favor of the market but also gained the full support of Microsoft.

As a result, it sold 1 million units in just four months! It became a hit at that time! NVIDIA finally truly rose from the ashes.

There's a detail that might make you feel even more nervous: before the Riva 128 was launched, NVIDIA only had enough money in its account to pay one month's salary! This suffocating feeling of being on the verge of bankruptcy was deeply engraved in Jensen Huang's mind.

He also passed this sense of crisis on to every employee. At the company's monthly meetings, he would always emphasize one sentence: "Remember, we're always only 30 days away from bankruptcy."

From "Mosaic" to "Transformers", How Did NVIDIA Make a Graphics Card Shine

Back in 1999, NVIDIA played a "trump card": GeForce 256.

As soon as this card came out, it ushered in a new era: the GPU era (commonly known as the graphics card) officially began! Its influence wasn't limited to games. Graphic processing, scientific computing, and even the later AI explosion were all closely related to it!

What was it like for a computer to process 3D images before that?

It all relied on the CPU laboriously doing matrix operations! Although there were so - called "graphics accelerator cards", their capabilities were very weak. Look at those games and special effects at that time. Looking back today, they were just a bunch of rough "mosaics", really unbearable!

What made the GeForce 256 so great?

It completely changed the game rules! It made complex 3D graphic rendering a reality. So, you see, the blockbuster 3A games, the cool movie special effects, and the immersive virtual reality (VR)… all these things that we take for granted today originated from here!

More importantly, it did something very smart:

It took over the "dirty and tiring" work of graphic processing from the CPU and handled it itself! This freed up the CPU to focus on logical operations and other tasks. The whole computer ran faster and more smoothly!

So, the GeForce 256 was not just a graphics card; it was a "watershed"! It marked the take - off of computer graphics and the entire game industry!

NVIDIA continued to upgrade its subsequent products, focused on performance, and expanded its applications, and kept moving forward and getting stronger.

Seriously, in the history of computer hardware development, the GeForce256 is definitely a "milestone" - level powerful product!

Thanks to its absolute dominance in the graphics card market, from 2004 to 2007, NVIDIA had a smooth - sailing time, and its revenue soared. If things had continued like this, NVIDIA might just be seen as a "super graphics card factory" today.

But! A great company has a different vision and courage! When NVIDIA had achieved unparalleled success in the graphics card field, Jensen Huang had a super - bold idea: "Can we make the GPU do more than just graphic work? Can it handle all kinds of calculations!"

Think about it. If the GPU could handle general - purpose computing tasks like the CPU, it could surely shine in fields such as scientific computing, artificial intelligence (AI), and code - breaking. The potential was unimaginable!

However, while the idea was great, the reality was tough. At that time, the differences between the GPU and the CPU were huge! Turning the GPU into an "all - round warrior" faced a lot of technical difficulties.

What to do? It was necessary to find a powerful external partner! This partner had to meet two conditions:

First, it should have a very strong CPU, preferably the dominant one in the market;

Second, it should be willing to "go crazy" with NVIDIA and support this bold idea.

Guess who this "destined partner" was? Intel! Yes, the absolute leader in the CPU market! Coincidentally, Intel was also worried at that time and urgently needed new technologies to break through the bottleneck and expand the application scope of the CPU.

The two sides hit it off! In the autumn of 2006, an epic cooperation was born: NVIDIA + Intel jointly developed a new GPU based on CUDA (Compute Unified Device Architecture)!

As soon as CUDA came out, the world changed! It was no longer just a graphics processor; it became a "universal calculator":

① The GPU was "transformed": It was no longer just for "drawing" but became a super - engine capable of handling any computing task!

② Developers were overjoyed: Programmers could become scientists, engineers, artists… and create all kinds of amazing applications on the GPU!

③ Computing itself was "upgraded": Digital operations became a fertile ground for countless possibilities!

So, you see, the birth of CUDA was not just a technological breakthrough; it was a "cross - border nuclear explosion"! It opened the door to high - performance computing and directly ignited the fuse for the AI explosion! This was the real starting point for NVIDIA's transformation into the "King of AI Armaments"!

With CUDA as the foundation, the subsequent insatiable demand for computing power in the AI wave propelled NVIDIA to new heights. All the glorious achievements we see today have their roots here!

What is the "NVIDIA Way"?

Looking back at NVIDIA's 32 - year entrepreneurial journey, from a struggling startup on the verge of death to a graphics card giant and then to a monopolistic chip supplier in the AI era, NVIDIA seems to be favored by history.

However, while the historical process is important, personal efforts cannot be ignored.

NVIDIA's achievements today are inseparable from Jensen Huang's decision - making and perseverance in thought and action over the past 30 years.

His way of thinking lies in the strategic path from point to area and the great pattern of maintaining strategic focus.

His way of action lies in two management concepts and three management methods.

From Point to Area, Step by Step to Success

From NVIDIA's success, we can see that Jensen Huang has always practiced the strategy of moving from point to area, which is a systematic strategic thinking.

It emphasizes starting from a local point, solving key problems or breaking through core technical difficulties, gradually expanding to the line (business line or process), and then forming an area (overall ecosystem or platform) through the synergy of the lines, and finally building a system (a complete ecosystem).

NVIDIA extended its unique technology to various fields such as games, 3D graphics, blockchain mining, AI, and robotics, continuously expanding its advantages and seizing every opportunity.

Companies like Huawei, Anta, and BYD have also done the same.

① Huawei

It entered the communication industry through switches, and after establishing a foothold, it penetrated into base stations and communication solutions.

② BYD

It entered the automotive industry through battery technology and then started manufacturing complete vehicles.

③ Anta Group

After the success of the Anta brand, it entered the sports goods market targeting different price ranges and consumer groups.

This is about leveraging an advantage, based on a positive outlook for an industry, and continuously expanding that advantage to give full play to one's unique strengths. This is a strategic success, not just tactical efforts.

This methodology is also applicable to various fields such as corporate strategic planning, digital transformation, and market expansion.

We must learn to make a single - point breakthrough and then, based on this, continue to discover opportunities in the same field (Anta calls it single - focus) to better meet customers' needs in different scenarios.

In this process, we will gradually improve our capabilities in supply chain management, organization, and other aspects.