The Nvidia Way

Jensen Huang and the Making of a Tech Giant

By: Tae Kim

Narrated by: Michael Braun

Nvidia is the darling of the age of artificial intelligence: the company’s chips are powering the generative-AI revolution, and demand is insatiable. For all the current interest and attention, however, Nvidia is not of our time. Founded more than three decades ago in a Denny’s in East San Jose, for years it was known primarily in the then-niche world of computer gaming. In fact, the company’s leather-jacketed leader, Jensen Huang, is the longest-serving CEO in an industry marked by near constant turmoil and failure.

In The Nvidia Way, acclaimed tech writer Tae Kim draws on more than one hundred interviews—including Jensen (as he is known) and his cofounders, the two original venture capital investors, early former employees, and current senior executives—to show how Nvidia played the longest of long games, repeatedly creating new markets and outmaneuvering competitors, including the original semiconductor giant, Intel, which now finds itself well behind the upstart. Kim offers revelations at every step, among them:
• An authoritative, myth-busting account of Nvidia’s founding in 1993.
• How Nvidia managed to overcome early missteps that would have killed most start-ups.
• The benefits of Nvidia’s flat organizational structure, which allows even low-level employees to contribute to the direction of the company.
• How Jensen’s obsession with solving the Innovator’s Dilemma—the trend of entrenched market leaders falling to smaller, nimbler companies—drove him to reinvent his approach to corporate strategy.
• How Nvidia saw the coming AI wave sooner than anyone else, and how it bet its future on a technology that had not yet arrived.

A rare view into Nvidia’s distinct culture and Jensen’s management principles, The Nvidia Way is a book for our moment as well as an instant classic of business history, with enduring lessons for entrepreneurs and managers alike.

“A captivating history of one of the world’s most important companies and what made it so great. Tae Kim deftly narrates Nvidia’s incredible achievements and instructive failures, and also captures the unique philosophies, motivations, and bets of its founders, scientists, and staffers.”—Matthew Ball, best-selling author of The Metaverse: Building the Spatial Internet

©2024 Tae Kim (P)2024 Recorded Books

Researched, Thoughtful and Accessible

Great book! I few like I learned a lot about what makes this successful enterprise tick. And I appreciate that for the most part it makes the very complex aspects of chip infrastructure very accessible, and only covers in so far as to advance the story and understanding of the company.

The Nvidia Way is an inspired and inspirING story, very relevant to the world we live in today.

I found this title to be quite engaging, not to mention informative, and I would recommend it highly to anyone who is - like myself - even the least bit interested in the Dawn of the Age of Artificial Intelligence.

This book is/was NOT my ‘usual fare’, and while somewhat highly “technical” at times, I found “The Nvidia Way” to be easy enough to digest even with a very limited understanding of the tech industry, its history, and the ‘usual jargon’.

This is a very inspiring work, and the narrator does a superb job, in my opinion.

Highly Recommended 👍👍

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A must have

This is a must have for everyone, not just people interested in technology.
So much to learn from the history and obstacles explained here.

I really enjoyed this book

Thank you for writing this book. It was very enjoyable. I learned a lot about Nvidia.

Intriguing and insightful!

As a fan of technology and great founders, I was really looking forward to this. I was glad to find out details of NVIDIA’s history that you can’t find simply in youtube videos. This is a generational company, with many similarities to Tesla and Elon Musk. Highly recommend it!

The ability to read where technology is going and to lead the change in market adoption

A brilliant book all round . The critical role of leadership in setting the culture of the organization. The speed of execution is awesome. The power of talent and the multiplier effect of collaboration and transparency

Must read.

Wonderful story about a company many just lead the name about. NVIDIA is an amazing company doing amazing things that is eye opening

Pretty good....

....but let's see just how long it would take for this book to become outdated.

Stay true to your beliefs

Great description of a world class leader, resulting in a world class company! Go Jensen. Very impressive!

Dynamics, tempo, essence

Lots of “secrets” how the company is run: the super flat structure, the communication culture, the compensation approach, the “nobody loses alone” story; the focus on not being commoditized - lots of universally applicable tips.