In an interview with *The Joe Rogan Experience*, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang candidly admitted that he wakes up every day feeling like the company is only 30 days away from bankruptcy. He stated that this is not a joke, but a mindset forced upon him by reality. From a technological misstep in 1995 that nearly led to the company's collapse, to betting half of its cash on Tape-Out and succeeding, to the lack of support for CUDA and its market value plummeting from $12 billion to $2 billion, and even the multi-billion dollar investment in DGX1 yielding zero orders, each time he was just one step away from bankruptcy, which instilled in him a "fear-driven" rhythm. Even today, with NVIDIA's market value exceeding one trillion, he continues to push forward with the same mindset.
The pressure in the early stages of starting a business is immense; the anxiety can feel like the world is spinning.
When talking about the early days of NVIDIA, Huang Renxun described that period as being weighed down by uncertainty almost every day, such as whether the technology direction was correct, whether the product could be made, and whether there was enough cash. Each of these issues felt like a heavy stone pressing down on him.
He described the feeling as lying still while the world spins rapidly around him, and he has no control over it. Deep anxiety and intense unease would surge up instantly, and these feelings followed him, becoming his pre-set mental state during several near-bankruptcy incidents.
The 1995 engineering disaster: all three architectural flaws nearly bankrupted Nvidia.
Jensen Huang stated that 1995 was the first year that truly forced him to adopt the mindset of "going bankrupt in 30 days." At that time, Nvidia had been pursuing completely flawed technological paths for several years, making the wrong choices in all three core architectures. As a result, Nvidia went from a technology leader to the last, running out of money and unable to deliver products. The contract with Sega became a matter of life and death; if the contract was terminated, the company would immediately go bankrupt.
Huang then flew to Japan and admitted that he couldn't do it, that the direction was wrong, and even suggested that Sega find someone else. His only request was that Sega change the remaining $5 million from a contract payment to an "investment." He explicitly said that the money might all go down the drain, but the Sega president still nodded. This $5 million became a lifeline, allowing Nvidia to start over.
Betting half the company on a single Tape-out: Riva 128 determines life or death.
Jensen Huang stated that even after receiving investment from Sega, Nvidia still lacked the time and funds for traditional testing and production processes. At this time, he heard about a company on the verge of bankruptcy that had only one chip simulator left. This machine allowed for the entire chip to be simulated and tested for bugs before being sent to TSMC for mass production – a gamble on a successful tape-out. Nvidia only had about one million US dollars left, but Huang still decided to use half of his cash to buy the machine. As a result, the company immediately went out of business after the machine was purchased.
Using this simulator, Nvidia fully validated its new Riva 128 chip and, at great risk, requested TSMC to proceed with mass production without trial production. TSMC admitted that no one had ever done this before, but still agreed. Ultimately, the Riva 128 successfully entered the market, pulling the company back from the brink and establishing "simulation first, tape-out once" as the standard procedure in the global chip business.
(Note: Tape-out is the process of finalizing the chip design and officially sending it to the wafer fab for mass production. Once sent out, it cannot be changed; if it fails, it must be redone, incurring additional costs.)
The CUDA incident caused Nvidia's market value to plummet to only $2 billion, marking another period when it seemed the company was on the verge of bankruptcy.
In 2005-2006, NVIDIA launched CUDA and decided to go all in on GPU computing. Jensen Huang spoke about deep learning, the future, and GPU computing at the GTC conference, but the audience was silent because no one understood it and no one wanted it.
In particular, CUDA doubled Nvidia's costs, and the outside world completely rejected it, causing the company's market value to plummet from $12 billion to only $2-3 billion. Jensen Huang wryly remarked:
"I'm the one who ruined the company's stock price."
This period also became another profound phase for him, when he woke up every day feeling that "there are only 30 days left until the company goes bankrupt."
(Note: Previously, GPUs could only do one thing: drawing, 3D rendering, and running games. CUDA, however, allows GPUs to perform scientific computing, AI training, data analysis, and simulation calculations.)
DGX1 launched but received zero orders; Musk and OpenAI become his lifeline.
Jensen Huang stated that in 2016, NVIDIA developed the first dedicated deep learning supercomputer, DGX1, at a cost of billions of dollars. He spoke passionately on the GTC stage, but the audience's reaction was the same as when CUDA was first announced: nobody cared, and there were zero orders.
The only person who said they needed the machine at the time was Elon Musk. He stated that he had a company that "really needed it." That company was the then-small OpenAI, which was still a non-profit organization.
Because there were no readily available machines, he had to disassemble the DGX1 used internally at NVIDIA and personally drive it to his small office in San Francisco. That machine later became a crucial cornerstone of deep learning, and during this period, he once again woke up every day feeling that the company was on the verge of collapse.
Even with a market capitalization exceeding 5 trillion, I remain cautious and fearful, reminding myself every morning before I wake up that I cannot mess things up.
Even though Nvidia is now the world's first $5 trillion company, surprisingly, he says that the first thing he says when he wakes up every day is still:
"We can't mess this up."
He said that for 33 consecutive years, he has woken up every day with the feeling that "the company will go bankrupt in 30 days." He felt that things were always unstable and the next mistake could happen at any time, so he had to keep moving forward and keep correcting things.
Driven by fear, I persevere and cannot allow myself to fail.
When discussing his motivation, he said he's not someone who chases after "success," but rather driven by an "extreme fear of failure." What he truly wants is for his company to survive, improve, and genuinely impact the world. He even joked that if he told a therapist, they might say that being "fear-driven" isn't healthy, but for him, this force is more effective than the pursuit of success.
When discussing leadership style, he emphasized the crucial importance of "allowing oneself to be proven wrong." If a leader pretends to be always right, subordinates will be afraid to say "you're wrong," and the company will be unable to adapt to rapid external changes. He asks himself this question every day:
"Are yesterday's judgments still correct today? Have the circumstances changed? Are things worse than originally thought?"
This habit of constantly reassessing, while increasing anxiety, is, in his opinion, the only way to survive in the rapidly changing tech industry.
Technological development is like a never-ending giant wave; you can only stay afloat.
To describe the stress he has experienced over the past 30 years, he used "surfing" as a metaphor:
"No one knows how technological waves will come; you can't predict them. You can only stand on the wave and hold your ground when it comes."
He didn't portray himself as someone who controls the waves, but rather someone who constantly faces new challenges, learns to stand firm, and can never stop. When Joe Rogan asked him why he became one of the longest-serving tech CEOs, he simply replied with two sentences:
"First, don't get fired. Second, don't feel bored."
Huang Renxun stated that passion, fear, and frustration will alternate, but he emphasized that there is only one key point:
"Regardless of emotions, leaders must keep moving forward."
Trump serves as a reminder of leadership responsibility; success or failure affects everyone.
He also mentioned that regardless of the American public's opinion of Trump, he emphasized:
"That's your president. The whole country should want him to succeed, because when the leader succeeds, everyone else can more easily succeed."
He applied the same logic to himself: NVIDIA's 40,000 employees all wanted the CEO to do a good job, because a good CEO meant smooth sailing for everyone's work, plans, and career. Therefore, he felt that leaders must remain open and be open to questioning to ensure the company's direction could be adjusted at any time, rather than being held back by past judgments.
This article, "Joe Rogan's Interview with Jensen Huang: Surviving 33 Years Through Fear – Nvidia's True Survival Rule," first appeared on ABMedia .
