Jensen Huang: Nvidia's Journey Was a Million Times Harder

Earlier this year, Nvidia Corp (NVDA) achieved a historic milestone by becoming the world’s most valuable company, largely driven by the skyrocketing demand for its artificial intelligence (AI) chips. This remarkable achievement reflects the company’s pivotal role in shaping the AI industry and its significant impact on the tech landscape.

Nvidia’s CEO, Jensen Huang, who founded the multi-billion-dollar chip company more than 30 years ago, recently opened up about the immense challenges he faced while turning his vision into reality. Huang, reflecting on his journey, shared insights into what it took to build Nvidia and what it might take to replicate that success in today’s rapidly evolving market.

Starting a successful company is “extremely difficult,” Huang shared last year on the tech podcast Acquired. He emphasized the hardships of entrepreneurship and noted, “I know how unbelievably hard it is, so when I see incredible companies being built, I feel nothing but admiration and respect.” Despite following all the right steps, Huang acknowledged that failure is always a possibility. Looking back, he admitted that building Nvidia was “a million times harder” than he ever imagined. With the knowledge he has now, Huang confessed he might hesitate to do it all over again, but he also offered aspiring entrepreneurs a valuable piece of advice: don’t overestimate the challenge.