This was a little surprising, for while working at Nvidia was stimulating, it was never exactly fun; the corporate culture that Huang fostered was closer to Microsoft than Google, closer to IBM than Apple. But years earlier, Chiu, the Taiwanese physicist, had told Huang that heâd allowed him to do his âlifeâs work.â The phrase had stuck with Huang, and now he wanted to offer that same opportunity to his staff. âWe want NVIDIA to be a place where people can build their careers over their lifetime,â the company wrote in its annual report. âOur employees tend to come and stay.â
The appeal lay in what Nvidia allowed you to achieve. It was not a secret that Huang pushed people hard. Thus, he attracted determined workaholics seeking to establish legacies as inventors. In the same way that a bestselling author didnât stop writing, even many wealthy Nvidia engineers kept showing up to work each day to attack difficult technical problems. Those engineers collectively held more than fifteen thousand patents, but there was always something left to build.