Jensen Huang: Now is the best time to take risks and advance your career

In 1993, three engineers gathered in a booth at a Denny's diner, unknowingly laying the foundation for what would become one of the most valuable technology companies in the world. Jensen Huang, Chris Malachowsky, and Curtis Priem sketched their ambitions for a new chip company, a venture that would eventually grow into Nvidia, sitting today at the heart of the artificial intelligence revolution with a market capitalization nearing $4.7 trillion.

Now 63, Jensen Huang remains Nvidia's chief executive officer, shepherding the company through three decades of rapid technological change and exponential growth. Speaking recently at Y Combinator's Startup School 2026 in a conversation with the accelerator's CEO Garry Tan, as reported by Fortune, Huang expressed a sense of envy for aspiring entrepreneurs at the dawn of the AI era. "This is absolutely the single greatest time to start a company," he advised, highlighting the vast opportunities presented by advances in AI and the technologies Nvidia helped engineer.

Rather than urging caution or exhaustive planning, Huang encouraged entrepreneurs to ask themselves: how hard can it be? According to him, success rarely results from mapping every obstacle in advance. Instead, it comes from allowing challenges to surface gradually and tackling them as they arise instead of being intimidated by the scale of the mission ahead. This advice, Huang notes, is not about dismissing fear but operating alongside it. As he told The Joe Rogan Experience last year, he has managed Nvidia in a continual state of concern, always viewing the company as being only “30 days from going out of business.”

Huang’s reflection underscores that vulnerability and uncertainty persist regardless of a company’s size or market value. If those feelings never entirely disappear, even at Nvidia’s scale, Huang argues that waiting for complete confidence or safety before taking action is unlikely to pay off; nothing gets built that way.

He points to Nvidia’s early years, when the company initially focused on the wrong graphics technology and had to quickly adapt. Huang remembers going into Fry’s Electronics, armed with a few hundred dollars, to buy textbooks his engineers would use to learn the concepts needed to steer the firm back on course. For Huang, there was no divide between raising capital and hitting the books - both were integral to building the business.

That philosophy of learning continuously rather than relying solely on what one already knows is increasingly relevant as AI reshapes industries within months, not years. Even as economic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions, and rapid technological shifts create a volatile environment, the pace of new business formation remains at record levels, reflecting both excitement and inherent risk.

Huang’s story, from a coffee-shop sketch to leading a company valued in the trillions, offers perspective for anyone considering a leap into startup life. The outcome may not be typical, but the willingness to face reality, keep learning, and confront each challenge with the question "how hard can it be?" remains accessible to anyone prepared to act.