[Symmetry]

I'm very glad I read the book, but it did lean a little towards the hagiographic side. From the outside it looks like the same high-pressure culture that drives so much innovation at Nvidia also drove their conflict with Apple.

[cryptocali2018]

+1 with your assessment of trending towards a hagiography. The author is not Isaacson. I wish he had spent more time with the people that probably don’t have the best view of Huang’s methods, and approach to running the company. Showing the other side in a more vivid way so the reader can make their own conclusion would strengthen the book and provide a holistic, fuller profile of Huang and Nvidia. Probably the price for access, and still better than nothing…

Nvidia appears to be another pressure-cooker, dog-eat-dog SV company, that outlasted competitors thanks to shrewd bets and urgent execution. Clearly, a great accomplishment, but we’ve seen other companies succeed with similar culture… this isn’t a “new way”… a relentless, obsessive, ruthless technical founder with good business sense (Huang like Gates were able to secure partnerships/licenses of needed technology early on.. same mold as Musk, Zuck) who understands the technology and business implications in detail is a movie we’ve seen before..

[firstadopter]

I sigh a little whenever anyone mentions Isaacson. My book had a different goal. I wanted to write a serious, substantive business history of Nvidia and explore the reasons for its success. Walt has a different style and focus, which wasn't what I aimed to do.