'I don't wear a watch': Nvidia CEO reveals the best career advice he ever received
As America is set to celebrate its 250th anniversary, Forbes released a list of 250 of Americaâs most successful living immigrants. Placing fourth is Jensen
As America is set to celebrate its 250th anniversary, Forbes released a list of 250 of Americaâs most successful living immigrants. Placing fourth is Jensen Huang, a Taiwanese business tycoon, who is the CEO of Nvidia.At 63, Huangâs story is at the epitome of immigration and has inspired thousands across the globe. He began his career while clearing tables and scrubbing floors at Dennyâs. Today, he leads one of the worldâs most valuable tech empires, whose major workforce consists of millionaires.When asked about the best career advice he had ever received, Huang peculiarly pointed out that he doesn't wear a watch. âVery few people know this but I donât wear a watch,â said the Nvidia founder who had promised his wife that he would be a CEO by the age of 30 and made it happen. âAnd the reason I donât wear a watch is that now is the most important time. Just dedicate yourself to now.âHe explained the statement by sharing a story, claiming that the best career advice he got was from a gardener. He shared that he was on a family trip to Kyoto and visited a temple that had the largest moss collection in the world.
âAll of the moss is perfect, and every species of the worldâs moss is there. It was a hot summer day - anybody whoâs been to Kyoto knows how incredibly hot it is during the summer - and my family walked by this old man who was squatted down working on the moss with a bamboo tweezer.His bamboo basket was nearly empty with only two or three small pieces of dead moss,â he said.When Huang asked the old man what he was doing, he replied he was taking care of his garden, on which he had been working for almost 30 years. âBut this garden is so big and your tweezers and basket are so small. How can you take care of the whole garden?â Jensen asked. âI have plenty of time,â said the old man.According to Huang, thatâs the best career advice he can give to people. âMost of the time I wait for things to come to me. Iâm rarely chasing things. I donât have a watch. Iâm focused on now. Iâm enjoying my job.
Iâm the longest-running tech CEO in the world...â he said.He advised that one should dedicate themselves to learning all the time, doing the best possible work and leaving everything on the field. âBy the time I go to bed Iâm exhausted, and Iâm happy about my day because I did everything I could... Youâll be surprised. Iâm not at all ambitious. I donât aspire to do more. I aspire to do better at what Iâm currently doing. Iâm not reaching for more. I wait for the world to come to me,â he added.He even surprised the audience by claiming that even the company he famously co-founded, didnât have a long-term strategy. âOur definition of a long-term plan is, âWhat are we doing today?â... You have plenty of time. Enjoy your work. Do the best you possibly can. Just keep learning every day, and good things will come to you.âHuang was a 30-year-old working as an engineer at Sun Microsystems in 1993 when he gathered his friends and future co-founder Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem in a booth at a Dennyâs diner to plot what would eventually become Nvidia.At the time, he believed that they could develop a graphics processing unit (GPU) that would revolutionise computer graphics for video games.
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