What happens when you tell Jensen Huang you're quitting Nvidia

Former Nvidia employees who left the company to launch their own startups have shared insights into CEO Jensen Huang's management style and parting advice. When robotics engineers David Hoeller and Nikita Rudin decided to leave Nvidia in 2024 to establish Flexion Robotics, Huang offered candid guidance regarding the difficulties of entrepreneurship and critiqued their original company name. Nvidia later became an investor in the Zurich-based startup, which has raised over $57 million and expanded operations to the United States. Another founder, Bing Xu, who joined Nvidia following an acquisition in 2024, departed to launch AI chip software startup INT21. Huang spent several hours discussing the decision with Xu, delivering direct critiques regarding communication while also offering personal counsel. These accounts illustrate Nvidia's distinct corporate culture and Huang's hands-on involvement with talent across the enterprise, highlighting how the semiconductor giant maintains productive ties and venture investments with its alumni network.