Nvidia boss Jensen Huang praises Denny’s work ethic for dishwashing time

• Jensen Huang is the co-founder and CEO of Nvidia, a $2 trillion computer chip giant.
• He attributes some of his success to the strong work ethic he honed while working at Denny’s.
• It was at a Denny’s restaurant that he and his co-founders came up with the idea for Nvidia.

Jensen Huang is the co-founder and CEO of Nvidia, a $2 trillion chipmaker powering the AI ​​revolution.

in a recent interview Stanford University Graduate School of BusinessLooking back on his early career in minimum wage jobs, Huang explained how he developed the work ethic to succeed as a CEO.

“There is no job below me…remember I used to be a dishwasher,” Huang said.

Huang mentioned his first job at Denny’s, which he jokingly referred to as his “alma mater.”

“I was probably the best dishwasher at Denny…I washed the living daylights out of dishes,” he said.

Huang then came up with the idea for NVIDIA in 1993 while dining at a Denny’s restaurant with co-founders Chris Malachowski and Curtis Priem.

He pitched the idea to his former employer, Wilfred Corrigan, then CEO of LSI Logic, who called it “one of the worst elevator pitches I’ve ever heard,” Huang said. said.

But Mr. Corrigan persuaded Sequoia Capital founder Don Valentine to invest in Nvidia because of Mr. Huang’s strong work ethic.

Mr. Huang said that he had worked as hard as an office worker as he had ever cleaned toilets, making sure the audience understood that that was a lot of toilets. “I’ve cleaned more toilets than all of you combined,” he joked.

Huang, who spoke on stage wearing his trademark leather jacket, said executives should be approachable to employees.

Instead of isolating themselves, CEOs should have the most direct reports, he said. The CEO directly manages 50 people. He encourages employees at all levels to share feedback and come forward for help, he said.

Still, he has long acknowledged that running the company is no easy task.

Starting Nvidia was “a million times harder than I expected,” he said on the episode. Last year’s technology podcast “Acquired”. ”No sane person would do that,” he added.