Jensen Huang explains how he designed NVIDIA from first principles

“With respect to building a company, the first thing you have to do—as with all problems—is start from first principles. What is this machine that we’re trying to create? What is its input? What is its output? What are the conditions that it’s in? What is the industry like? Is it a fast moving industry? Is it a bureaucratic industry? Is it a highly regulated industry? And what are you trying to build?”

Thinking about it from this perspective, there were several things Jensen wanted to do with the company:

“I wanted to create a company that naturally attracts amazing people, and the reason for that is our company’s mission is to solve computing problems that are barely possible.”

He also wanted a company that was “as small as possible” and “empowered people.”

“If you want an organization that obeys command and control, then you make it a pyramid just like the military—all the way back to the Roman Empire. But If you want to empower people, you want to make it as flat as possible so that information travels quickly.”

He continues:

“We also don’t have business units. We don’t have divisions. Everybody works as one, and the company is shaped in a way that allows us to build accelerated computing best.”

Full video: Sana “In conversation | Jensen Huang and Joel Hellermark“ (May 2023)