#403 How Jensen Works

whatshot 3112 snips

Oct 20, 2025

Dive into the powerful principles of Jensen Huang, focusing on his belief that complacency kills innovation and the necessity of constant reinvention. Discover his commitment to transparency through whiteboard-first meetings and public criticism as a teaching tool. Explore his mantra of 'tortured into greatness,' showcasing resilience through self-critique. Learn about his relentless pursuit of speed, flat organizational structure, and how to create markets rather than chase them. Finally, see his dedication to maximizing talent and prioritizing tasks for peak performance.

55:15

forum

Ask episode

web_stories

AI Snips

view_agenda

Chapters

menu_book

Books

auto_awesome

Transcript

info_circle

Episode notes

00:00 / 00:00

Teach To Create A Shared Mind

Jensen spends huge amounts of time teaching his company to create shared mental models.
Whiteboarding and repetitive instruction create a Vulcan mind-meld across teams.

00:00 / 00:00

Make Whiteboarding The Default

Use whiteboards as the primary meeting tool to force transparent, real-time thinking.
Erase and redraw ideas constantly to enforce reinvention and avoid complacency.

00:00 / 00:00

Complacency Is The Real Enemy

Jensen treats innovation as mandatory because complacency kills companies.
He balances charisma and self-criticism so success never softens the organization.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Professor Jensen: Teaching as a Leadership Tool

00:33 • 1min

chevron_right

Whiteboard-First Meetings for Clarity

01:35 • 56sec

chevron_right

Complacency Kills: Constant Reinvention

02:31 • 7min

chevron_right

Flat Organization and Direct Management

09:51 • 4min

chevron_right

Public Criticism to Teach the Company

13:22 • 4min

chevron_right

Tortured into Greatness: Self-Critique as Culture

17:16 • 3min

chevron_right

Speed of Light: Benchmarks of Maximum Velocity

20:36 • 3min

chevron_right

Extreme in All Things: Relentless Work Ethic

23:07 • 4min

chevron_right

Top Five Emails: Sourcing Edge Signals

27:08 • 3min

chevron_right

Direct, Concise Communication

30:16 • 1min

chevron_right

Lua: Stop Rambling, Answer the Question

31:40 • 2min

chevron_right

The Mission Is the Boss and Pilot-in-Command

33:33 • 2min

chevron_right

Strategy Is Action, Not Words

35:06 • 2min

chevron_right

Ship the Whole Cow: Use Every Asset

36:59 • 1min

chevron_right

Go to School on Everybody: Relentless Learning

38:21 • 2min

chevron_right

Create the Market Rather Than Chase Share

40:49 • 2min

chevron_right

I Will Choke You with Gold: Reward Top Talent

42:52 • 1min

chevron_right

Highest Priority First: Ruthless Prioritization

44:16 • 1min

chevron_right

Swarm Your Greatest Opportunity: Betting on AI

45:32 • 8min

chevron_right

Adversity and Love for the Work

• Mentioned in 164 episodes

The Innovator's Dilemma

When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail

Clayton M. Christensen

In this influential business book, Clayton Christensen shows how even the most outstanding companies can lose market leadership when they fail to adapt to disruptive innovations. Christensen explains why companies often miss new waves of innovation and provides a set of rules for capitalizing on disruptive technologies. The book uses examples from various industries, including the disk drive, mechanical excavator, steel, and computer industries, to illustrate trends that lead to success or failure in the face of disruptive technologies.

#1801

• Mentioned in 18 episodes

The Nvidia Way

Jensen Huang and the Making of a Tech Giant

Tae Kim

The Nvidia Way is a riveting history of Nvidia’s unexpected ascent to the top of the tech sector. It provides an authoritative, myth-busting account of Nvidia’s founding, its early missteps, and how the company overcame them. The book emphasizes the benefits of Nvidia’s flat organizational structure, Jensen Huang’s obsession with solving the Innovator’s Dilemma, and how Nvidia anticipated and bet on the AI wave. It offers enduring lessons for entrepreneurs and managers, showcasing Nvidia’s distinct culture and Jensen Huang’s management principles.

#572

• Mentioned in 40 episodes

The Score Takes Care of Itself

My Philosophy of Leadership

Bill Walsh

This book provides insights into Bill Walsh's philosophy of leadership, gleaned from his successful career as the head coach and general manager of the San Francisco 49ers. Walsh stresses the importance of creating a strong culture, setting high standards, and thorough preparation. He advocates for leaders to focus on the process rather than the outcome, emphasizing that 'the score takes care of itself' when the right principles are applied. The book also touches on Walsh's personal struggles and the toll of relentless pressure, highlighting the importance of maintaining a balance between work and personal life. It offers practical advice on leadership, applicable not only in sports but also in business and other fields.

#700

• Mentioned in 35 episodes

Creative Selection

Inside Apple's Design Process During the Golden Age of Steve Jobs

Ken Kocienda

In 'Creative Selection,' Ken Kocienda offers a detailed look at Apple's software development process during his 15-year tenure at the company. The book focuses on the 'creative selection' process, a method of iterative development through continuous demos and feedback. Kocienda shares stories of his work on key products like the iPhone, iPad, and Safari web browser, and discusses the essential elements of innovation at Apple, including inspiration, collaboration, craft, diligence, decisiveness, taste, and empathy. The book provides insights into the working culture and decision-making processes under Steve Jobs' leadership.

This episode covers the insanely valuable company-building principles of Jensen Huang—and nothing else.

I spent over 40 hours reading (and rereading) this book on Jensen and Nvidia written by Tae Kim

I then spent several days editing down 30 pages of notes from the book. I deleted everything that was not How Jensen Works.

List of ideas:

1. Professor Jensen

2. The Whiteboard

3. Complacency Kills

4. Insist on a Flat Organization

5. Public Criticism

6. Tortured Into Greatness

7. Speed of Light

8. Extreme In All Things

9. Top 5 Emails

10. Direct Communication

11. LUA

12. The Mission is the Boss and Pilot-in-Command

13. Strategy is Action

14. Ship The Whole Cow

15. Go To School On Everybody

16. Create The Market

17. Choke You With Gold

18. Highest Priority First

19. Swarm Your Greatest Opportunity

Episode sponsors:

⁠Ramp⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ gives you everything you need to control spend, watch your costs, and optimize your financial operations —all on a single platform. Make history's greatest entrepreneurs proud ⁠⁠⁠by going to Ramp and learning how they can help your business control your costs and save time and money.⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ramp.com⁠⁠⁠⁠

Automate compliance, security, and trust with Vanta.⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Vanta helps you win trust, close deals, and stay secure—faster and with less effort⁠⁠⁠⁠. ⁠⁠⁠Find out how increased security leads to more customers by going to Vanta⁠⁠⁠. Tell them David from Founders sent you and you'll get $1000 off. ⁠⁠⁠https://www.vanta.com/founders⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠

Collateral⁠⁠ transforms your complex ideas into compelling narratives. Collateral crafts institutional grade marketing collateral for private equity, private credit, real estate, venture capital, family offices, hedge funds, oil & gas companies, and all kinds of corporations. Storytelling is one of the highest forms of leverage and you should invest heavily in it. You can do that by going to ⁠⁠https://collateral.com

Home Top podcasts Popular guests Top books