Jensen Huang returns to Denny’s where trillion-dollar company began
26.09.2023 - 18:53
/ venturebeat.com
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Jensen Huang, CEO of one of the biggest tech companies in the world, celebrated Nvidia’s founding today at a Denny’s restaurant in San Jose, California.
The Denny’s restaurant at Berryessa Road in San Jose was where the chip design company got off the ground 30 years ago. Now Huang is one of the most recognized CEOs from Silicon Valley and the world of technology, as his company provides graphics chips for 3D games and AI processors to fuel the AI revolution.
I wrote the first story on Nvidia back in 1996, when the company was pitching its graphics chips as “Windows accelerators.” But it got started earlier in 1993 with just a dream, shared by Huang, Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem. Today, the company’s market value is over $1 trillion.
Huang said he thinks of Denny’s as an American institution.
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In honor of that anniversary, Denny’s CEO Kelli Valade came out to meet Huang at the restaurant where it all began. Huang had a Grand Slam breakfast and other treats before the event. Valade presented Huang with a plaque honoring him for building a trillion-dollar company and she also kicked off a new competition where anyone can submit a startup idea to Denny’s Trillion Dollar Incubator in hopes of getting a $25,000 prize and following in Huang’s footsteps.
The applications are open until November and the public will be able to vote on the ideas. Then the company will evaluate the top five ideas “Shark Tank” style and come up with one winner.
“Great things can happen at a Denny’s booth over breakfast and coffee,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what it’s related to. But we’re excited about that, whether it’s fashion or art or another type of company.”
Huang noted that his first job in the U.S., after immigrating from Taiwan, was at a Denny’s, where as a busboy and a waiter he learned how to interact with people and serve food. His older brother taught that, as a waiter, he should never go to the “island” or leave the table empty-handed, in terms of carrying plates or menus.
“It teaches you humility, hard work, how to be empathetic to other people, trying to bring joy to somebody — all of those things are all good life skills,” Huang said.
Valade said she also started out working at