Why NVIDIA founder Jensen Huang wouldn’t start a company if he had to do it all over again

In this clip from the Acquired podcast, Jensen is asked what company he would start if he was 30 years old again today. His response is: “I wouldn’t do it.”

“Building a company and building NVIDIA turned out to have been a million times harder than any of us expected it to be. And at the time, if we realized the pain and suffering and just how vulnerable you’re going to feel and the challenges that you’re going to endure, the embarrassment and the shame, and the list of all the things that go wrong—I don’t think anybody would start a company.”

Jensen believes that the superpower of entrepreneur is that they don’t know how hard it is. They only ask themselves: How hard can it be?

“You have to get yourself to believe that it’s not that hard because it’s way harder than you think. And if—taking all of my knowledge now—I go back, and I said I’m going to endure that whole journey again, I think it’s too much. It is just too much.”

And he believes entrepreneurs need to surround themselves with supportive family, friends and colleagues.

“You need the unwavering support of the people around you… I’m pretty sure that almost every successful company and entrepreneur that has gone through some difficult challenges had that support system around them.”

Full video: Acquired “NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang” (Oct 2023)

P.S. We’ve put together a YouTube playlist with every Jensen Huang insight we’ve ever shared. You can watch it here: "Best startup advice from Jensen Huang"