Jensen Huang Once Insisted Nvidia Never Talks About 'Market Share' At Meetings Revealing Why He Feels That 'Concept' Is Wrong For Work Culture

Nvidia Corp. NVDA co-founder Jensen Huang once mentioned in an interview that within the world's most valuable chipmaker, there’s never any talk of ‘market share’.

What Happened: "We never talk about market share in our company… Why are you fighting people for market share?" Huang told Sana Labs founder Joel Hellermark during the 2023 Sana AI Summit at Stockholm's Eric Ericsonhallen. "The whole concept of market share says there's a whole bunch of other people doing the same thing. And if they're doing the same thing, why are we doing it?"

Huang argued that competing on volume or price drains talent and imagination. "Why am I squandering the lives of these incredibly talented people to do something that has already been done?" he asked. Instead, Nvidia directs engineers toward novel challenges — from graphics processors in the 1990s to today's AI-accelerating hardware — based on the belief that fresh territory yields the highest returns.

He said the discipline includes knowing when to walk away. "That demonstrates very clearly to your employees that we're not going to do commodity work," Huang added. "The combination of choosing the right work and walking away from the wrong work is the best way to create the conditions [for employees to do their life's work]."

Why It Matters: Huang’s vision for Nvidia has always been about setting a legacy for transformation in the tech world – a perception that comes through in his recent biography, penned by Stephen Witt.

Often described as a ‘demanding‘ boss, Huang’s approach is reminiscent of other tech titans like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, also known for their demanding nature. In contrast to these leaders, Microsoft Corp MSFT Co-Founder Bill Gates described himself as "very nice" compared to them, sparking a broader discussion on leadership styles in the technology sector.

However, the tech industry is volatile, as seen in April when Huang, along with other top billionaires, lost nearly $34 billion after Trump's Liberation Day. This volatility shows the importance of Huang's pragmatic approach to Nvidia's future.

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